The Contingent Nature of Life: Bioethics and the Limits of Human Existence (International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine Book 39)

Life and nature are imperfect, uncontrollable, and largely (and perhaps permanently) unknowable, that is to say: contingent. The contingency of life is a significant challenge for medicine and technology. Life sciences seem to broaden the possibilities of control to an extent that the contingency of life and nature is no longer self-evident. This very broad statement raises a lot of serious questions. Is it a valid diagnosis? Are the life sciences really defying the contingency of our existence? Or are we simply manipulated by utopian promises? And if contingency is really being challenged, why should we worry about it? Is contingency essential for a meaningful life and way of life? This volume explores the different ways in which the contingency of life, and especially human life, is relevant for ethical discussions and the normative frameworks of bioethics. It explores the relevance of the notion of contingency, and the desire for moral argumentation within bioethics. The authors discuss these notions from a philosophical perspective, paying special attention to the impact of life sciences on people with disabilities and to intercultural perspectives on bioethical debates. The volume also contributes to a deeper reflection on the basic philosophical assumptions of bioethics. Front Matter....Pages I-4 Front Matter....Pages 5-5 The Value of Natural Contingency....Pages 7-15 Between Natural Necessity and Ethical Contingency....Pages 17-24 Of Poststructuralist Ethics and Nomadic Subjects....Pages 25-36 Genetics, a Practical Anthropology....Pages 37-52 Science, Religion, and Contingency....Pages 53-67 Front Matter....Pages 69-69 Bioethics and the Normative Concept of Human Selfhood....Pages 71-82 Human Cognitive Vulnerability and the Moral Status of the Human Embryo and Foetus....Pages 83-88 Needs and the Metaphysics of Rights....Pages 89-96 The Authority of Desire in Medicine....Pages 97-108 Procreative Needs and Rights....Pages 109-117 Needs, Capacities and Morality....Pages 119-130 Moral Judgement and Moral Reasoning....Pages 131-146 Philosophical Reflection on Bioethics and Limits....Pages 147-156 Front Matter....Pages 157-157 Finite Lives and Unlimited Medical Aspirations....Pages 159-167 Reproductive Choice: Whose Rights? Whose Freedom?....Pages 169-182 Assisted Reproduction and the Changing of the Human Body....Pages 183-189 On the Limits of Liberal Bioethics....Pages 191-208 The Human Embryo as Clinical Tool....Pages 209-219 The Naked Emperor....Pages 221-232 Front Matter....Pages 233-233 Disability: Suffering, Social Oppression, or Complex Predicament?....Pages 235-246 Front Matter....Pages 233-233 Disability and Moral Philosophy: Difference Should Count....Pages 247-258 Neuro-Prosthetics, the Extended Mind, and Respect for Persons with Disability....Pages 259-274 Front Matter....Pages 275-275 Normative Relations: East Asian on Biomedicine and Bioethics....Pages 277-292 Limits of Human Existence According to China’s Bioethics....Pages 293-306 There is the World, and there is the Map of the World....Pages 307-322 Reflections on Human Dignity and the Israeli Cloning Debate....Pages 323-344 Conceiving of Human Life....Pages 345-355 Globalization and the Dynamic Role of Human Rights in Relation to a Common Perspective for Life Sciences....Pages 357-373 The development of bioethics has presented us with an ever increasing number of very different discussions over the last four decades. Bioethicists were initially c- cerned about questions of reproduction, end of life, organ transplantation, and a broad range of moral problems raised by the forward march of the life sciences. Meanwhile these sciences grew to be a major in?uence in nearly all areas of our lives. Biotechnology has brought about considerable changes in agriculture, plant breeding, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and medicine in general. These scienti?c and technological changes in turn are having a profound in?uence on economy, law, politics and culture. The life sciences are now certain to change our world in important ways. Because of their potentially all-pervasive and highly diverse impact, bioethical discussions concerning the life sciences are no longer simply about ethical gui- lines or legal regulation of concrete technologies. Certainly, the on-going debates concerning rules and regulations are complicated – and becoming more so. Nev- theless, bioethics cannot be restricted to these topics – they cover but a fraction of the social and personal consequences of bio-technological change. The life sciences drive us to rethink long-time-honoured concepts of humanness, of personhood, of nature. Bioethics therefore needs to develop an understanding of the impact those changes have on the conceptualization of the ethical dimension of the life sciences.

Life and nature are imperfect, uncontrollable, largely (and perhaps permanently) unknowable, that is to say: contingent. The contingency of life is a significant challenge for medicine and technology. Life sciences seem to broaden the possibilities of control to an extent that the contingency of life and nature is no longer self-evident. This very broad diagnosis raises a lot of serious questions. Is it a valid diagnosis? Are the life sciences really defying the contingency of our existence? Or we only manipulated with utopian promises? And if contingency is really being challenged, why should we worry about it? Is contingency essential for a meaningful life and way of life? 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.