What is Bioethics?

Bioethics is a discipline that systematically studies human behavior in the fields of life sciences and health care based on ethical values and principles. Born in the 1960s. Mainly studies ethical issues in biomedical and behavioral research, ethical issues in the environment and population, ethical issues in animal experiments and plant protection, and human reproduction, birth control, genetics, eugenics, death, euthanasia, organ transplantation Moral issue.

Bioethics

(Life Science Branch)

Bioethics is a new discipline that was first developed in the United States and subsequently in Europe in the 1960s, and is by far the fastest-growing and most dynamic interdisciplinary discipline in the world. The life of bioethics mainly refers to human life, but sometimes also involves animal life, plant life, and ecology, and ethics is a normative study of human behavior. Therefore, bioethics can be defined as the theory and application of ethics. Methods: A systematic study of the ethical aspects of life sciences and healthcare, including decisions, actions, policies, and laws, in an interdisciplinary and cultural context.

After the birth of bioethics, it not only achieved rapid development, but was also affected by medical scientists, biologists, philosophers, sociologists, jurists, religious figures, journalists, legislators, policy makers and the public in a short period of time Attention, and quickly institutionalized. Some countries have established presidential or government bioethics committees, and in many countries, including China, many hospitals or research centers have established institutional review boards or institutional review boards to review human research programs or

The reason why bioethics was born in the 1960s and 1970s is closely related to the three major events that occurred at the end of World War II and beyond. The first thing was 1945

In addition to the background of the above three major events, the factors that promote the development of bioethics include the following:

(1) Advances in biomedical technology not only enable people to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases more effectively, but also to manipulate genes, sperm or eggs, fertilized eggs, embryos, and even human brain and human behavior. This increased power can be used correctly or abused. How can this be effectively controlled? And the impact of this force may involve this generation (such as genetic intervention in germ cells), as well as the next and future generations. When the interests of this generation and

Bioethics is application

Bioethics is an applied ethics. Its main content has five levels:

(1) Theoretical level: for example, the two most basic ones

As an applied normative ethics, bioethics does not seek to establish a system, but is problem-oriented. Its purpose is to better solve ethical issues raised in life sciences or medical care. Solving ethical problems requires ethical theory, but the actual ethical problems are often complicated, and it is difficult to solve all ethical problems with one theory, just as it is impossible to use a cat or a cat to catch all the mice in the world. In the process of solving ethical problems, ethical theories are themselves tested. Some theories fail to stand the test. Even if some theories pass the test, it is impossible to get high marks in solving all ethical problems. Therefore, we should maintain the openness of the choice of theories when solving problems, without sticking to a certain theory.

Since we are problem-oriented, we must first identify ethical issues. There may be two situations in which ethical issues arise. One is that new ethical issues arise due to the use of new technologies. For example, research on the human genome can enable people to predict that some people with the disease gene may develop the disease late. For another unmarried girl who has the BRACA1 gene, 85% of them may develop breast or ovarian cancer in the future, but also 15%. May not be these cancers, so should we tell her? Should she be advised to remove both breasts and ovaries now? In another case, what should be done is not a problem, but because of the application of new technology, the question of what should be done is re-raised. For example, doctors are obliged to rescue patients. In the case of brain death, the whole body died due to brain death, and the doctor's rescue obligation was lifted, which should not be a problem. But with the life-sustaining technology, the life of a brain-dead patient can be temporarily maintained by breathing apparatus and artificial feeding. So, should this be done? Because this kind of maintenance cannot save the patient's life, and the limited resources it possesses make other patients who may be cured lose hope, should the treatment of patients with brain death be abandoned? When identifying ethical issues, care needs to be taken to distinguish between medical or technical issues and ethical issues. Medical or scientific and technological issues are "what can be done", while ethical issues are "what to do". For example, the diagnosis of diseases and possible treatment options are medical and scientific and technological issues, and what choices should be made and who should choose them are ethical issues. How the design of a study can achieve reliable results is a question of science and technology, but whether it should be obtained

However, it should be noted here that such an argument should be a hypothetical proof, and a non-lunatic proof cannot support the proposed solution. For example, some people use "can't help" to support cloning, but "can't help" is not a proof of ethics. Many immoral things are can't help but and we cannot assert that those things should be done. The moral proof of an action is determined by: (1) Does the action itself conform to or violate ethical principles? (2) Will the consequences of the action bring harm or benefit? This requires us to invoke ethical theory and ethical principles. The ethical principles of bioethics are: respect for people, not harming people, benefiting people, treating people fairly, and so on.