Religious Perspectives on Bioethics and Human Rights (Advancing Global Bioethics)

This book deals with the thorny issue of human rights in different cultures and religions, especially in the light of bioethical issues. In this book, experts from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism and Confucianism discuss the tension between their religious traditions and the claim of universality of human rights.  The East-West contrast is particularly evident with regards to human rights.  Some writers find the human rights language too individualistic and it is foreign to major religions where the self does not exist in isolation, but is normally immersed in a web of relations and duties towards family, friends, religion community, and society.  Is the human rights discourse a predominantly Western liberal ideal, which in bioethics is translated to mean autonomy and free choice?  In today’s democratic societies, laws have been drafted to protect individuals and communities against slavery, discrimination, torture or genocide.  Yet, it appears unclear at what moment universal rights supersede respect for cultural diversity and pluralism.  This collection of articles demonstrates a rich spectrum of positions among different religions, as they confront the ever more pressing issues of bioethics and human rights in the modern world. This book is intended for those interested in the contemporary debates on religious ethics, human rights, bioethics, cultural diversity and multiculturalism.

Joseph Tham was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada at the age of fifteen. At the University of Toronto, he first majored in Mathematical Sciences and then graduated from Medical School. After several years of work as a family physician, he entered the seminary of the Legionaries of Christ and was ordained a priest in 2004.  As a part of this preparation, he has obtained his degrees in philosophy and theology at Rome’s Regina Apostolorum Pontifical university, where he also completed his post-graduate studies in bioethics.  He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation with high honors on “The Secularization of Bioethics―A Critical History” under the direction of Dr. Edmund Pellegrino, former Chairman of the President’s Council on Bioethics.  He presently teaches bioethics in Regina Apostolorum and is the Dean of the School of Bioethics.  He is the author of The Missing Cornerstone (2004, 2009), The Secularization of Bioethics (2007) and Bioetica al Futuro (2010).  He is the editorial coordinator of Studia Bioethica and a Fellow of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights.

Kai Man Kwan is a distinguished professor teaching in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at the Baptist University in Hong Kong.  He graduated with an M.Phil in Philosophical Theology (1991) and a PhD in Philosophy of Religion (1993) both from Oxford University while holding a plethora of other degrees from University of Hong Kong and University of Aberdeen. Professor Kwan has a stellar record of over 30 years of teaching experience in over 15 courses, with a specialization in topics of philosophy and religion. Courses he taught include the “Philosophy and the Meaning of Life,” “Quest for Truth and Meaning” and “Approaches to the Study of Religion,” to name a few. He has an extensive list of well-received publications such as the journal article “Replication and Theory Development in Organizational Science: A Critical Realist Perspective”. (1999) He is also the author of a number of books including “Christian ethics& the Secular Free Society” (2007) and “The Rainbow of Experiences, Critical Trust, and God: A Defense of Holistic Empiricism” (October 2011)

Alberto Garcia is the director of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights (Rome, Italy). He graduated in Law at Autonomous University Law School and is a Doctor in Law from Complutense University in Madrid. Presently, he is Professor of Philosophy of Law and International Law at the School of Bioethics of Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum in Rome. Furthermore he is a researcher of the Human Rights Institute at Complutense University. For 5 years he has been member of the Steering Committee of Bioethics in the Council of Europe and in 2005 he has been honoured with the National Prize of the Spanish Royal Academy of Doctors in the field of legal and social sciences.