Download Ethical problems in natural sciences — challenges of the 21st century

39th Meeting of the
Polish Biochemical Society
Gdañsk 16–20 September 2003
SESSION 16
Ethical problems in natural sciences — challenges
of the 21st century
Organized by M. M. ¯ydowo
274
Session 16. Ethical problems in natural sciences — challenges of the 21st century
2003
Lecture
468
Bioethics: the next stage of the dispute about the essence of humanity
Barbara Chyrowicz
KUL, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski, Lublin
The science of bioethics is about thirty years old. This
science was one of the first kind of applied ethics which
— as some assert — came into being due to the ,,insufficiency" of ethical theories. It turned out that neither
perfection of ethical theories nor methaethical disputes
about the meaning of moral terms are sufficient to resolving contemporary problems, such an abortion and
euthanasia. Theoretical disputes in ethics turned out
not to be of use to preparing reports for government
bodies responsible for law-making. Thus bioethics has
became another applied ethics. The field of reflections
that bioethics is concerned with is not only theoretical
problems of medical ethics connected with Hippocratic
Oath, but also the ones that arise due to the progress of
biomedical sciences — starting discovery DNA’s structure up to the cloning of a sheep named Dolly. Bioethics
is defined as a discipline of special philosophical ethics
that establishes moral appraisals and norms referred
to acts of biomedical interferences into the process of
the origin of human life, into life itself and into death.
Although scientific progress has put bioethics before
ever new problems, they concern the same human being for whose good each discipline of applied ethics formulates moral norms. All the contemporary ethical theories — referring to the names of their proponents —
claim that they are deeply concerned about the good of
the human person. If — in spite of the unanimously declared care for the moral good of the human being —
particular moral theories are so differentiated as to
their particular conclusions about what is in some situations good and what evil, the reason for this disagreement is the understanding of the essence of humanity.
We can decide about what is good for the human being
only having previously adopted conception of human
person. The problem lies that contemporary moral philosophy offers us a considerable number of mutually excluding conceptions of the person. The classic dispute
about who the human person is, which was earlier referred to the discussion about evolution and the place
of an individual in the society, has returned in
bioethics, because the discussion about the moral permissibility of interference in the human nature cannot
be continued before the answer to the questions about
whose nature is the object of the interference in question is given. What makes the human nature so special
that the interference that otherwise, in the case of the
”extra-human” world, is permissible and acceptable
turns out controversial in relation to the nature of the
human person?
Lecture
469
On need and philosophical foundations of bioethical reflection
Ryszard Wiœniewski
UMK, Uniwersytet im. Miko³aja Kopernika w Toruniu, Toruñ
Bioethics is a subdisciple within ethical domain and
ethics itself belongs to phiolosophy. Considerations on
philosophical issues and expressing moral judgment is
suprisingly very common. We do easily transfer our
world’s view and our moral intuitions on evaluative attitude. This tendency grows in scientists’ society —
their objective knowledge regarding medicine, biology,
and other related specializations meets moral sensivity
natural for human being which could be intensified by
personal as well as well grounded world’s view. Nevertheless these competencies do not always reach deep
enough in spheres of ethics to take into consideration
all methodological difficulties as far as formulation of
correct ehical judgment is concerned. This is the case,
in particular, with the area of bioethics.
There is no need to convince of necessity of ethical reflection on issues connected with life valuation those who
perceive connection between scientific researches influencing varietes of human goods, life, and health in particular. However there is a need to convince of deeper analysis of ethical criterias, correctness of definition, and ways
of justification ethical norms and judgments. Ethical misjudgment can influence development or restrain of scientific research, carring out laboratory and medical experiments, but on the other hand, lack of objective biomedical
knowledge can also project on hasty ethical judgment of
philosophers, editors, moralists, and even politicians who
decide on research founds. The need and problems of
bioethics are to be considered in the essey with reference
to specific issues of research and medicine.
2003
39th Meeting of the Polish Biochemical Society
275
Lecture
470
From biochemistry to bioethics or to bioterrorism
Mariusz ¯ydowo
Katedra i Zak³ad Biochemii, Akademia Medyczna w Gdañsku, ul. Dêbinki 1, 80-211 Gdañsk
Stanislaw Lem, a very well known Polish science-fiction novelist and journalist, at the end of the
last century wrote in one of his assays that XX century
was the period of totalitarisms and the XXI century will
be the time of terrorisms.
Biochemistry in the XX century became a dominant
discipline among natural sciences. The vivid development of the methods and ideas permitting to describe
the phenomena of life, health and diseases in terms of
molecular events caused, that several traditional disciplines like botany, zoology, evolutionism, even anatomy — started to adapt the biochemical way of investigating their problems. One may say that the second
half of XX century has been the time of “molecularisation” of natural sciences. The evidence of this process are several new disciplines which developed as the
result of the application of biochemical research to
solve the problems investigated before mostly by morphological methods. In this way arised disciplines
known now as e.g. molecular biology, molecular genetics, immunochemistry, comparative biochemistry, biochemical evolutionism, biochemical pathology and others.
Another story has been the development of technologies applying the achievements of contemporary biochemistry (biotechnology, genetical engineering,
biomolecular engineering, biomedicine). This led to the
possibilities of manipulating and modifying living organisms, by now not only microorganisms, plants and
animals, but also humans. These manipulations and
modifications have been used to produce better and
more abundant food, to produce pharmaceuticals and
to help medical treatment of human subjects. However
these possibilities may be easely used also for evil purposes. The awareness of it caused about 30 years ago
the formation of a new discipline being the subject of interest for both philosophy and biology-bioethics. The
significance of the term “bioethics” will be explained extensively in two main presentations at this session. The
term “bioterrorism” may be understood not only as the
use of modified bacteria or isolated toxins to kill people,
but also as e.g. manipulations on human organism
done without consent of the subject.
The biochemical research is becoming nowadays
more and more expensive. Thus the subject of research
performed by an individual investigatior depends not
only on the researcher himself but also on the sponsor
who is paying for it. The direction of the development
of biochemistry in the XXI century will be therefore dependent not only of the new scientific ideas, but also of
the appreciation by researchers and by the sponsors
(governements, military authorities, buisness people)
of the bioethical indications. If the bioethics would be
neglected, the biochemical achievements could be used
not to treat diseases, to prevent sufferings of living beings and to preserve natural enviromnent. The achievements may serve also the advocates of bioterrorism.
This is the reason why the organisers of this Annual
Meeting of the Polish Biochemical Society decided to
include in the agenda a session entitled Ethical aspects
of research in natural sciences — the challenge of XXI
century.