Abstract
This entry provides some information about the rich history of male circumcision, distinguishes between four clusters of reasons for male circumcision, and discusses shortly the differences and commonalities between male and female circumcision. The ethics part focuses on the following four issues: (1) the (lack of) scientific evidence regarding medical harms and benefits, (2) respect for the child’s and its parents’ rights, (3) the right on bodily integrity, and (4) the moral weight of cultural considerations and its relation to global bioethics. It concludes that in the debate about male circumcision, there is a tension between (1) general abstract principles such as individual autonomy, self-determination, the child’s right on an open future, and bodily integrity, (2) evidence-based medicine that inspired scientific findings about harms and benefits, (3) cultural considerations, and (4) practical and individual circumstances. In general, there seems to be a tendency toward a more skeptic stance toward male circumcision, even within religious communities.
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Further Readings
Denniston, G. C., Hodges, F. M., & Milos, M. F. (Eds.). (2004). Flesh and blood. Perspectives on the problem of circumcision in contemporary society. New York: Kluwer/Plenum Publishers.
Special Issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics: Issue 7 of volume 39 (July 2013). This issue is devoted entirely to the ethics of infant male circumcision
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Dekkers, W. (2016). Circumcision, Male. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09483-0_80
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