3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology
Bioethics deals with the governance of life science technologies. An appropriate understanding of the relationship between life, nature, and human nature is thus always presupposed in bioethical discourses. However, bioethics has encountered difficulties in taking a stance about this. References to...
Gardado en:
| Autor Principal: | |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Online |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| Publicado: |
Edward Elgar Publishing
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Acceso en liña: | https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/171021 |
| Tags: |
Sen Etiquetas, Sexa o primeiro en etiquetar este rexistro!
|
| _version_ | 1869518051190243328 |
|---|---|
| author | Düwell, Marcus |
| author_browse | Düwell, Marcus |
| author_facet | Düwell, Marcus |
| author_sort | Düwell, Marcus |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | Bioethics deals with the governance of life science technologies. An appropriate understanding of the relationship between life, nature, and human nature is thus always presupposed in bioethical discourses. However, bioethics has encountered difficulties in taking a stance about this. References to human nature are often condemned as pre-modern, illiberal, and essentialist. Therefore, mainstream bioethics tries to avoid taking a stance and chooses starting points that can hope to achieve broad societal consensus. These strategies are, however, not very plausible when a liberal consensus is unlikely to receive global support and when bioethical questions become more challenging. This chapter acknowledges the importance of these challenges and assumes that it is necessary to clarify the normative status of references to concepts like ‘human nature’ and ‘the human being’. It will argue that debates on philosophical anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century make it possible to refer to human nature without problematic essentialist and ahistorical assumptions. Specifically, it will introduce the philosophical anthropology of Helmuth Plessner and show how it is both important and necessary for ethics in general, and bioethics in particular. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-171021 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
| publisherStr | Edward Elgar Publishing |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1710212026-01-22T15:35:36Z 3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology Düwell, Marcus Human nature; Philosophical anthropology; Helmuth Plessner; Enhancement; Bioethical methodology LAB PSAD GBC Bioethics deals with the governance of life science technologies. An appropriate understanding of the relationship between life, nature, and human nature is thus always presupposed in bioethical discourses. However, bioethics has encountered difficulties in taking a stance about this. References to human nature are often condemned as pre-modern, illiberal, and essentialist. Therefore, mainstream bioethics tries to avoid taking a stance and chooses starting points that can hope to achieve broad societal consensus. These strategies are, however, not very plausible when a liberal consensus is unlikely to receive global support and when bioethical questions become more challenging. This chapter acknowledges the importance of these challenges and assumes that it is necessary to clarify the normative status of references to concepts like ‘human nature’ and ‘the human being’. It will argue that debates on philosophical anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century make it possible to refer to human nature without problematic essentialist and ahistorical assumptions. Specifically, it will introduce the philosophical anthropology of Helmuth Plessner and show how it is both important and necessary for ethics in general, and bioethics in particular. Published 2026-01-22T15:35:34Z 2026-01-22T15:35:34Z 2025-12-05 chapter 9781788116671 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/171021 eng image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/research-handbook-on-law-governance-and-bioethics-9781788116664.html https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap-oa/book/9781788116671/chapter3.xml Edward Elgar Publishing Edward Elgar Publishing 10.4337/9781788116671.00009 10.4337/9781788116671.00009 01ceac28-75b4-492a-8eec-f9b98bc6b28c https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ 9781788116671 Edward Elgar Publishing Cheltenham, UK open access |
| spellingShingle | Human nature; Philosophical anthropology; Helmuth Plessner; Enhancement; Bioethical methodology LAB PSAD GBC Düwell, Marcus 3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology |
| title | 3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology |
| title_full | 3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology |
| title_fullStr | 3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology |
| title_full_unstemmed | 3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology |
| title_short | 3: Bioethics and human nature: perspectives from philosophical anthropology |
| title_sort | 3 bioethics and human nature perspectives from philosophical anthropology |
| topic | Human nature; Philosophical anthropology; Helmuth Plessner; Enhancement; Bioethical methodology LAB PSAD GBC |
| topic_facet | Human nature; Philosophical anthropology; Helmuth Plessner; Enhancement; Bioethical methodology LAB PSAD GBC |
| url | https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/171021 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT duwellmarcus 3bioethicsandhumannatureperspectivesfromphilosophicalanthropology |