Research project
on Cultural Issues in Bioethics - Announcement and invitation for advice and
cooperation
Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 12 (2002), 229-231.
An interdisciplinary group of
researchers in the humanities and social sciences has launched a new research
project in bioethics at German universities, entitled "Culture-transcending
Bioethics. Conditions, Prospects, and Challenges" (KulturŸbergreifende
Bioethik. Voraussetzungen, Chancen, Probleme). Out of a total of eight individual
projects, five are based at Bochum's Ruhr University, two in Bonn and one in
Goettingen. An associated project is located in Munich. The German Research
Foundation (DFG) has granted funding for two years. Hopefully, funding will
continue beyond this point, and the scope of regions and topics can be enlarged
progressively. The projects start around January 2003.
The research group will investigate cultural and
culture-transcending issues in bioethics. While it will contribute to
comparative bioethics, the interest also reaches out for systematic features,
highlighting the foundations of international, intercultural and
interdisciplinary understanding in bioethics. Among other things, it will
provide evidence for the relevance of a cultural perspective on bioethics for
humanity. It addresses diverse issues raised by the global activities of
biomedical technology and the world-wide disparity in bioethical regulations.
It scrutinises issues of global and regional health-related justice, which are
fuelled, e.g., by cultural and ethnic re-configurations in the aftermath of
migration. Special attention will be paid to the empirical and conceptual
impact of intra-cultural diversity, for example, within the "West", on
policy-making and decision-making. More generally, the purpose is to find out
more about the fabric and dynamics of cultural issues on many levels in applied
ethics.
Ethical biomedical issues at
the beginning of human life, for example, in human medical genetics, assisted
reproduction and "eugenics" in medical research as in clinical practice, are a
common focus. The meaning of concepts, such as health and disease, and social
issues, such as the patient-doctor relationship in the respective countries and
regions, will be studied. Throughout the investigation, the meaning of
"culture" in ethics will be revisited. The group will identify normative claims
raised by certain cultures in bioethics and compare their foundations. It will
thus contribute to a better understanding and management of disagreements
within our global village.
In assessing the discourse, a
common frame of questions will be addressed. Who are the participants in the
discourse? What are the main issues? Which are the leading opinions and
tendencies? How are certain concepts, such as "personhood", the "human being",
or "community" evaluated? Whose interests matter? What are the determining
political, social, demographic, or economic factors, and how are they reflected
within the discourse? These and other questions will guide the projects on the
individual level, and help them to combine, compare and analyse the findings as
a group.
On this basis it shall be attempted to identify the
main lines of conflict and agreement between cultures in bioethics. The
discussion will explore potential normative clues and procedures for
maintaining differences under conditions of mutual respect, learning, and
understanding. Given the contemporary dominance of "Western" styles and
concepts, this project tries to find out how bioethics could benefit from
integrating cultural perspectives and ethical concepts from different cultures.
This investigation is expected to reinforce a general model of ethics that
transcends mere utilitarian and pragmatic tendencies. The tension between
cultural relativism and universalism will be treated with particular attention.
The research group
"Culture-transcending Bioethics. Conditions, Prospects, and Challenges" brings
together the following individual projects.
1 Concepts of the Human Being in Current Bioethics in China
China, with her wealth in human capital and cultures,
her booming economy and research, her increasing engagement in the
international arena, and her claim to probe into particular "Chinese ways"
towards modernity, has become representative for developing countries. China
might become a key in the formation of a cross-cultural bioethics.
This project focuses on the
ways the "human being" is addressed in contemporary China's bioethics,
referring to the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It assesses concepts with a
claim to be fundamental or typical for China's culture, as expressed in certain
practices, e.g. in reproductive medicine.
(contact: Prof. Dr. Heiner
Roetz, Ruhr-University Bochum, Chinese History and Philosophy, email:
heiner.roetz@rub.de; Dr. des. Ole Doering, email: ole.doering@rub.de )
2 Bioethical Conflicts and Concepts of the Human Being in Japan. An
Investigation of the Intellectual Discourse, Institutional Regulation and
Public Opinion Making, and their Combined Impact
Japan is the only Asian country
whose level of modernization is on a par with that of the Northern Atlantic
industrialized countries. She is therefore a significant object for
cross-cultural research, as well as an important partner in the international
dialogue.
This project treats bioethical
conflicts in Japan from three different thematic and methodological
perspectives. It will explore (a) the philosophical dimension of the debate,
especially the normative concepts related to the human being in Japanese
bioethics, and the arguments brought forth in favour of these norms; (b) the
dimension of bioethical policy making, i.e. the ways how institutions and
politics generate regulations concerning biotechnology; (c) the social
dimension of bioethics in Japan,
with a focus on society's value orientations regarding bioethics. Special
attention will be given to contributions that emphasize a specifically Japanese
orientation in values relevant for bioethics.
(contact: Prof. Dr. Josef
Kreiner, Bonn University, Japanese Studies, email: Japanologie@uni-bonn.de;
Prof Dr. Wolfgang Marx, Bonn University,
Philosophy; Dr. Christian Steineck, email: steineck@uni-bonn.de (a); Dr.
Robert Horres, email: horres@uni-bonn.de (b); Dr. Dieter …lschleger, email:
h.oelschleger@uni-bonn.de (c))
3 Discourses in Bioethics in South-Korea
South-Korea belongs
among the most important Asian countries in terms of economic strength and
political influence. Its progression towards modernity has been depicted as a
model, making Korea's modern development a first rank issue of scientific
interest. Recently, Korea has set up ambitious and rather advanced
biotechnology programmes. Korean society is significant as a melting pot of
many different cultures providing an exemplary case for studies of the impact
of cultures on bioethics.
This project will give an account of the
current bioethics debate and the state of the art in biotechnology in South
Korea. It will focus on the concepts of the identity and integrity of human
life, as reflected in discussions of issues of human genetics and abortion. It
will study recent trends in the development of the discourse, identify patterns
of argument, and register the relevant normative terminology, by an analysis of
debates in public, political and experts' circles, with an additional special
focus on the Christian communities. Traditional concepts of the human being as
can be found in traditional Korean medical ethics will also be described.
(Contact: Prof. Dr.
Marion Eggert, Ruhr-University Bochum, Korean Studies, email: marion.eggert@rub.de;
Prof. Dr. Christofer Frey, Ruhr-University Bochum, Ev. Theology, email:
christofer.frey@rub.de; Dr. Phillan Joung, email: phillanjoung@compuserve.de;
Dr. des. Huh Joon, email: joonhuh68@hotmail.com)
4 Buddhist Bioethics. Foundations and Current
Positions
Buddhist doctrines
and ethical paradigms are of crucial significance for Asia. This project
focuses on the description and analysis of contemporary Buddhist discussions in
bioethics, with a particular interest in the Therav‰da and Mah‰y‰na traditions.
Special attention will be reserved for themes, such as human cloning, where
according to Buddhist tradition, ethical problems are seen in ways that differ
fundamentally from those of the "West".
It will also
investigate the anthropological and philosophical foundations of the respective
positions in bioethics. The guiding question will be, how doctrines, such as
the Karma, reincarnation, the concept of personhood and the maxim of "doing no
harm" can be reconstructed to fit into the current bioethics debates.
(Contact: Prof. Dr.
Konrad Klaus, Bonn University, Indology, email: konrad.klaus@uni-bonn.de;Dr. Jens Schlieter, email:
schlieter@web.de)
5 Bioethical Issues in the Context of Islamic
Law and its Interpretation by Members of the Medical Porfessions
This project is
dedicated to the current inner-Islamic ethical discussion, which devotes much
attention to bioethical issues. This topic is obviously relevant for
cross-cultural studies in bioethics, given the significant number of societies
influenced by Islam.
The project focuses
on the relationship between the paradigmatic concepts and legal reasoning in
Islamic jurisprudence and medicine among contemporary Muslim physicians. It
attempts to elaborate statements relevant for bioethics, together with their
fundamental principles, in the context of Islam. This will be discussed as a
timely example to explore the role and range of Islamic law in matters of
problem-oriented decision-making.
(Contact: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Endress,
Ruhr-University Bochum, Oriental Studies, email: gerhard.endress@rub.de)
6 Utilitarian Culture of versus Normative
Culture. Intra-cultural Differences in "Western" Bioethics
This philosophical
project explores a fundamental structural conflict, which can be found in
European bioethics. Here, a rigoristic type of ethics, which maintains the
absolute protection of human dignity and the protection of all forms of human
life, on the one hand, is confronted with a utilitarian type of ethics, which
tends to buy the benefit of an enhanced quality of life for a majority of
people for the price of accepting a reduced status of the rights of other human
beings. This conflict bears its effects on contemporary legislation. This
impact will be discussed as related to the European history of different
traditions of philosophy of law.
This project draws
attention to the fact that cultural difference, as a cause of ethical conflict,
cannot be reduced to a problem of a contradiction between the "West" and other
cultures. It shows how it can be helpful to identify cultural differences within the "West", or
other cultural regions, respectively. Thereby, we are informed about the
historical developments and traditions behind "our" ethical consciousness,
which can instruct us in coping with the challenges of biomedical progress,
without being entrapped by cultural tensions, inconsistencies and dilatoric
compromises.
(Contact:
Prof. Dr. Walter Schweidler, Ruhr-University Bochum, Philosophy, email:
walter.schweidler@rub.de)
7 The Concept of Informed
Consent and its Concrete Application in International Bioethics
Informed
Consent is generally accepted in international declarations as a key concept of
bioethical practice, formulating a condition for medical intervention, for
purposes of therapy and research. This general principle needs to be qualified
in light of the given concrete social and cultural context, in order to become
sufficiently meaningful and instructive in practice. These concrete
interpretations can be influenced by considerations emphasising either the
individual orientation (individual informed consent), or the social orientation (community consent), as guiding the act of giving consent. It has been
found that those differences can be distinguished along the lines of European
or Northern American and Chinese bioethics.
This
project will study the real understanding of informed consent in some societies in Asia (China, Taiwan) and the
"West" (Germany, USA) and its accurate meaning in normative documents issued by
international organizations, such as WHO and UNESCO.
(Contact: Prof. Dr.
Claudia Wiesemann, Goettingen University, Ethics and History of Medicine,
email: cwiesem@gwdg.de; Dr. Dr. Nicola Biller-Andorno, WHO, Geneva, email:
billerandornon@who.int)
8 Cross-cultural Health Literacy. Historical Roots and Current
Challenges
This project introduces the
concept of health literacy ("Gesundheitsmuendigkeit"), as it can be
found in regulations and admonitions for health care, healthy nutrition, a good
life and preventing disease, according to relevant historical and contemporary
documents of medical literature in China, the Near East, and Europe.
This project approaches the issue of culture in
medicine from the grass-root perspective of patients and customers of medicine
in different cultures. Hereby, the focus is on the users of medical products,
so as to be better prepared to comprehend the problems, motives of action and
values in everyday's medical and pharmaceutical practice. The expected results
shall be made available in order to inform the beginning discussion about the
capacities and limits of predictive and preventive medicine, as part of the
emerging global markets.
(Contact: Prof. Dr. Hans Martin
Sass, Ruhr-University Bochum, Philosophy, email SassHM@aol.com; Dr. Dr. Ilhan
Ilkilic, email: ilhan.ilkilic@uni-tuebingen.de)
Associated project: AIDS Policy in USA/Germany and China
In this project, the policies
of two culture spheres, i.e., USA/Germany and P.R. China are compared in order
to examine how different political systems and cultural backgrounds shape the
respective reactions to a common threat, in this case: the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
and to what degree these differences are responsible for parallels and
differences in the ethical decisions taken in this situation. These descisions
include how to communicate with the major groups at risk, whether to involve
the entire population, how to balance the rights of individuals with the
welfare of society, how to define culpability, and whether to stress
re-integration and education or expulsion and criminalization of persons with a
risky lifestyle.
The project should enable us to
understand how, in an age of increasing globalization and cultural and
scientific exchanges, regions with different cultural identities and socio-political
systems can maintain idiosyncratic ethical positions vis-ˆ-vis a common
bio-ethical challenge.
(Contact: Prof. Dr. Paul Ulrich
Unschuld, Munich University, History of Medicine, email:
unschuld@lrz.uni-muenchen.de).
The organisers invite bioethicists
with an interest in cultural issues as partners to co-operate and welcome
critical comments and suggestions in line with the major purposes. We thank all
who have supported us up to now with their advice and their readiness to
co-operate.
An internet website is under
construction (www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/kbe). It is planned to make research
results available in electronic and printed form, depending on the work in
progress.
For all inquiries, please
contact Prof. Dr. Heiner Roetz (speaker, heiner.roetz@rub.de), Dr. des. Ole
Doering (ole.doering@rub.de), or Dr. Hu Hsiang-ling (co-ordinator,
hu.xiangling@rub.de)
Prof. Dr. Heiner Roetz
Fakultaet fuer
Ostasienwissenschaften
Ruhr-Universitaet, D-44780
Bochum, Germany
Tel 0049-234-3226254; Fax 3214440
E-mail: heiner.roetz@rub.de
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