A bit of history…
Bioethics- Greek bios- life; ethos- behavior
Introduced in 1927 by Fritz Jahr in article about
“biethical imperative”
1970- American biochemist Van Rensselaer
Potter “global ethics”
Nazi experiments during World War II- need of
expanding biolaw and bioethics
Development of the field…
Technological advances posed novel questions
British philosophy- moving away from positivism and
emotivism, development of theories of ethics and
their application
1970s- emerging of bioethical think tasks and
academic bioethics programs:
• Hasting Center
• Kennedy Institute of Ethics
…
Principles of Biomedical Ethics - first American textbook
on bioethics
Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA
Brazil- Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do
Sul
The materia of the field
Boundaries of life- abortion euthanasia
Surrogacy
The allocation of scarce health care resources
The right to refuser medical care
The scope of bioethics can expand with biotechnology
Human experimentation- one of the first areas adressed by modern
bioethicists
The National Commision for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical
and Behavioral Research
Belmont Report- 1979
Autonomy
Beneficence
justice
Non- maleficence
Human dignity
Sanctity of life
Relationship between
Bioethics and Biolaw
Issue of Western philosophy
Matter of several contemporary legal philosophers
In last years re- emerging of bioethical and biolaw
discussion
Ambiguity od term “bioethics”- wide meaning and
narrow meaning
…
UNESCO Declarations relating to “bioethics”
Blurring of the distinction of ethics and law
Ethics and Law interact and overlap with one
another but remain different normative systems.
Ethics and Law pursue different goals
THE END