Dignity In Bioethics Research Articles

Significance of the Constitutional Category of Personal Dignity in Bioethics and Medicine

The article raises the question of the dignity of the individual in the field of bioethics and medicine. The author notes that today the number of situations in medicine and law is increasing when it is necessary to make a difficult ethical choice, while relying on the priority of the value of human life. This scientific work focuses on the fact that, despite a number of contradictions, bioethics, law and medicine have common values — human life and dignity. The paper analyzes the works of domestic and foreign authors devoted to bioethics and its correlation with the rules of law. In particular, the terminological aspect is considered. Having conducted a comprehensive study of dogmatic sources, the author offers her own version of the definition of the dignity of the individual as a category in the field of somatic and bioethical rights. Since the relationship between bioethics, medicine and law is quite young for the Russian Federation, there are a number of gaps in our legal system. The author of the article talks about the prospects for the gradual development of legal regulation of relations related to bioethics and medicine, which will lead to the minimization of such gaps.

Examining the Grounds for Human Dignity in Bioethics

Examining the Grounds for Human Dignity in Bioethics

La dignidad humana como principio biojurídico y como estándar moral de la relación médico-paciente

El artículo destaca la importancia de distinguir entre dos roles diversos que la noción de dignidad humana juega en bioética: uno, como principio de orden jurídico-político, y otro, como estándar moral del trato debido al paciente. Cuando la dignidad es entendida en el primer sentido, nos encontramos con un concepto muy general, que cumple un rol fundacional y de orientación de las normas relacionadas con las prácticas biomédicas. En cambio, cuando es utilizada en el segundo sentido, intenta captar la exigencia moral de tratar siempre al paciente como “persona”, es decir, con el mayor cuidado y respeto. Para clarificar el significado de la dignidad como principio, se apela a la distinción entre principios y normas elaborada en el campo de la filosofía jurídica. La dignidad como estándar moral de la relación médico-paciente se ilustra en base a una serie de estudios empíricos.

Bioethical pastoral: Life, ethics, and the politics of human dignity

The last decade of work on vital politics has seen a sharp and unexpected return to the figure of universal humanity. Despite this return, the canon of work on vital politics remains marked by a curious omission: little attention has been paid to the place of ‘human dignity’ in the governance of the biological body. The reasons for this omission are not obvious. After all, since World War II, talk of dignity has become a sine qua non of global counter-politics. If the reasons are not obvious, the significance is: dignitarian politics is distinguished by a refusal of the logic of biopolitics and an embrace of a political sensibility consistent with what Foucault called pastoral power: the demand that the pastorate must care, simultaneously, for all of the flock and for the soul of each member. This article seeks to highlight the place of pastoral power in the study of vital politics by examining one domain in which vital and dignitarian politics have become entangled: the figure of human dignity in bioethics. Tracing the situated ways dignity has been reimagined and remobilized in relation to the biopolitical body in the case of U.S. stem cell ethics, it seeks to cast new light on contemporary economies of life and power.

The value of dignity in and for bioethics: rethinking the terms of the debate.

The discussion of the nature and value of dignity in and for bioethics concerns not only the importance of the concept but also the aims of bioethics itself. Here, I challenge the claim that the concept of dignity is useless by challenging the implicit conception of usefulness involved. I argue that the conception of usefulness that both opponents and proponents of dignity in bioethics adopt is rooted in a narrow understanding of the role of normative theory in practical ethical thinking. I then offer an alternate understanding of the nature and value of dignity. I begin by recognizing that claims that one's dignity has been violated point to an important difference between "respect for autonomy" and "respect for persons." I then suggest three different conceptions of how dignity can be normatively guiding for bioethics, and conclude that, ultimately, understanding dignity as the cornerstone of a reflective perspective that frames moral reflection and deliberation is valuable for doing bioethics well.

Undignified Arguments

Something strange has happened to the concept of dignity in bioethics. After a long period in which U.S. pragmatist and U.K. consequentialist philosophers have argued that the concept is useless and vacuous, and in which they have been reasonably successful in expunging it from mainstream English-language academic bioethics, dignity has suddenly become popular again in debates about the legalization of physician-assisted dying (PAD). And, even stranger, it is deployed not by conservatives but by liberals. In the debates about PAD, liberal proponents of legalization seem to accept without question that there is such a state or process as "death with dignity," which is juxtaposed to "undignified dying." It also seems to be accepted that both of these states can be fairly easily identified and that they carry great moral weight. This article provides an analysis of the current resurgence of "undignified" arguments and argues on the basis of that analysis (1) that a proper understanding of the concept of dignity shows that the previous reductive arguments against dignity are partially incomplete and therefore partially misguided and (2) that, despite dignity having meaning, the idea of an undignified death cannot carry the moral weight it is given by proponents of the legalization of PAD.

Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law by Charles Foster, Hart, Oxford, 2011, pp. xxxiii + 183, £30, pbk

Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law by Charles Foster, Hart, Oxford, 2011, pp. xxxiii + 183, £30, pbk

Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law (review)

Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law (review)

The dual role of human dignity in bioethics

This paper argues that some of the misunderstandings surrounding the meaning and function of the concept of human dignity in bioethics arise from a lack of distinction between two different roles that this notion plays: one as an overarching policy principle, and the other as a moral standard of patient care. While the former is a very general concept which fulfils a foundational and a guiding role of the normative framework governing biomedical issues, the latter reflects a much more concrete and context-specific understanding of the patient as a "person". The importance of dignity as a policy principle will be described by appealing to the distinction between principles and rules as developed by some legal philosophers. The value of dignity as a standard of patient care will be illustrated with the help of concrete examples and by drawing on the taxonomies of dignity proposed by Jonathan Mann and other scholars. The overall scope of the article is to highlight this double and complementary role of human dignity in bioethics.

Human Dignity, Bioethics, and Human Rights

Commitment to human dignity is a widely shared value. Human dignity also serves as the grounding for human rights. In recent years, protection of human dignity has also emerged as a central criterion for the evaluation of controversial technologies, like cloning and embryonic stem cells. This article addresses the question as to whether human dignity is or could be a useful concept for bioethics and human rights. It begins with a discussion of the under-conceptualisation of human dignity. The next two sections identify the diversity in conceptual approaches to human dignity in bioethics and human rights. The following section considers some of the problems with using human dignity as an evaluative standard. The article then proposes initial developmental steps to enable the concept to be applied in a more precise and meaningful way, based on Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach.

The Role of Dignity in Bioethics. Review of Human Dignity and Bioethics: Essays Commissioned by the President’s Council on Bioethics

The Role of Dignity in Bioethics. Review of Human Dignity and Bioethics: Essays Commissioned by the President’s Council on Bioethics

Prawa i godność człowieka we współczesnej bioetyce

In contemporary bioethics dominate two trends dealing with two basic ethical solutions. First of them is utilitarianism concerning utility as a criterion of judging between what is right and what is wrong. The second trend applies to human rights and human dignity, which are to be obeyed without any exceptions. Utilitarianism protects the strong and prosperous people in society and excludes those who are weak and not capable of independent life. The concept of human dignity protects each and every human being including the weakest ones. It is therefore characterized by real humanitarianism. In addition, it has one more outstanding virtue; in the contemporary world, it is the most widespread and understandable ethical code. It enables people of different civilizations to communicate with understandable ethical language. In the world constantly undergoing global processes, it is a great value. Although there are a number of discussions concerning the way of understanding human dignity and human rights, their universal and ethical meaning; there are certain international acts of law concerning biomedicine that support the concept of human dignity as the most adequate concept for the contemporary bioethics. As an example, the European Convention on Bioethics can be taken. The article includes the most significant topics concerning understanding, history, and application of law and human dignity in bioethics.

Review: Human Dignity in Bioethics and Biolaw

Review: Human Dignity in Bioethics and Biolaw

Human Dignity in Bioethics and Biolaw

Human Dignity in Bioethics and Biolaw

Book Review: Human Dignity in Bioethics and Biolaw

Book Review: Human Dignity in Bioethics and Biolaw