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, 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.
