Bioethics is a new academic discipline that deals with ethical questions raised by advances in biology and medicine. It focuses on the connections between biotechnology, medicine, life sciences, politics, philosophy, law, and theology. The field has emerged since the 1960s and has been characterized by conflicts between different perspectives. The first centers dedicated to bioethics studies were formed in the early 1970s, and since then, more voices have been added to the discussion. Bioethics covers a wide range of themes, including assisted suicide, organ transplantation, end of life care, abortion, and many others. Bioethicists also look to the short-term future, when advances in biology and medicine will open up many more ethical questions.
Bioethics is a relatively new field, existing in nascent form since antiquity, but only emerging as an academic discipline in the 1960s. Bioethics deals with ethical questions posed by advances in biology and medicine. For example, is assisted suicide right?
Bioethics can also be described as focusing on ethical issues raised by the connections between biotechnology, medicine, life sciences, politics, philosophy, law and theology. The field is often characterized by conflicts between those who see Christian philosophers, such as the Pope, as the foremost authority on bioethics issues, and progressives such as Peter Singer, who approach the field from a utilitarian rather than a biblical perspective.
The first centers dedicated to bioethics studies were formed in the early 1970s. These include the Hastings Center (originally The Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life Sciences), founded in 1970 by psychiatrist Willard Gaylin and philosopher Daniel Callahan, and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, founded at Georgetown University in 1971. Principles of Bioethics , the first textbook on bioethics, was published shortly thereafter by James F. Childress and Tom Beauchamp. This textbook has approached the field and its questions from a Christian perspective.
In the following decades, more voices have been added to the discussion, and rapid advances in medicine and biology have given the field further importance. High-profile right-to-life cases such as those surrounding the deaths of Karen Ann Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan and Terri Schiavo have placed bioethical issues at the center of public debate and editorialism. A number of well-respected bioethicists have emerged, from such diverse backgrounds as philosophy, law, theology, and medically trained clinical ethicists.
In 1995, President Clinton established the President’s Council on Bioethics, a specialized body to advise the president on biomedical ethics. This body became the subject of considerable controversy during George W. Bush’s tenure, when it was alleged that the body consisted almost exclusively of Christian-affiliated neoconservatives and that a scientist had been fired for advocating stem cell research.
Some of the themes that emerge in bioethics include assisted suicide, organ transplantation, end of life care, abortion, definition of consent, genome sequencing, cryonics, life support, transhumanism, psychosurgery, reproductive rights, genetically modified organisms, medicine negligence, lobotomy , gene therapy, animal rights, artificial insemination, artificial life, chimeras, brain-computer interface, reproductive and therapeutic cloning and many others. In addition to focusing only on current bioethical issues, bioethicists also look to the short-term future, when advances in biology and medicine will open up many more ethical questions. Some bioethicists have even proposed abandoning entire avenues of research, such as stem cells and cloning, for the sake of “human dignity.”
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