The Contingent Nature of Life

by Duwell, Marcus; Rehmann-sutter, Christoph; Mieth, Dietmar

• ISBN13: 9781402067624
• ISBN10: 1402067623
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-03
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

This volume explores the different dimensions of how the contingency of life, and especially human life, is relevant for ethical discussions and the normative frameworks in bioethics. It explores the relevance of the notion contingency, needs and desires for moral argumentation and bioethics. The volume discusses those notions in a philosophical perspective, but pays special attention to the impact of life sciences for people with disabilities and intercultural perspectives on the bioethical debates. Additionally, the volume is a contribution to a deeper reflection on basic philosophical assumptions of bioethics.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Contingency of Life and the Ethical
The Value of Natural Contingency	p. 7
Between Natural Necessity and Ethical Contingency	p. 17
Of Poststructuralist Ethics and Nomadic Subjects	p. 25
Genetics, a Practical Anthropology	p. 37
Science, Religion, and Contingency	p. 53
Ethical Theories and the Limits of Life Sciences
Bioethics and the Normative Concept of Human Selfhood	p. 71
Human Cognitive Vulnerability and the Moral Status of the Human Embryo and Foetus	p. 83
Needs and the Metaphysics of Rights	p. 89
The Authority of Desire in Medicine	p. 97
Procreative Needs and Rights	p. 109
Needs, Capacities and Morality	p. 119
Moral Judgement and Moral Reasoning	p. 131
Philosophical Reflection on Bioethics and Limits	p. 147
Cases of Limits
Finite Lives and Unlimited Medical Aspirations	p. 159
Reproductive Choice: Whose Rights? Whose Freedom?	p. 169
Assisted Reproduction and the Changing of the Human Body	p. 183
On the Limits of Liberal Bioethics	p. 191
The Human Embryo as Clinical Tool	p. 209
The Naked Emperor	p. 221
Abilities and Disabilities
Disability: Suffering, Social Oppression, or Complex Predicament?	p. 235
Disability and Moral Philosophy: Why Difference Should Count	p. 247
Neuro-Prosthetics, the Extended Mind, and Respect for Persons with Disability	p. 259
Others' Views: Intercultural Perspectives
Normative Relations: East Asian Perspectives on Biomedicine and Bioethics	p. 277
Limits of Human Existence According to China's Bioethics	p. 293
There is the World and there is the Map of the World	p. 307
Reflections on Human Dignity and the Israeli Cloning Debate	p. 323
Conceiving of Human Life	p. 345
Globalization and the Dynamic Role of Human Rights in Relation to a Common Perspective for Life Sciences	p. 357
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