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Comparative Empirical Bioethics: Dilemmas of Genetic Testing and Euthanasia in Israel and Germany pp 1–11Cite as

Introduction: Engaging in Comparative Bioethics

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Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Ethics ((BRIEFSETHIC))

Abstract

The task of an empirically-grounded exploration of a culturally embedded bioethics is introduced against the backdrop of several mainstream approaches to bioethics. Secondly, we introduce the comparative context of Germany and Israel as well as the relevance of comparing moral deliberation of lay groups and the public with expert discourses. These theoretical settings provide a context for this study’s unique aim of developing a research program that engages comparative bioethics and sociology. The chapter concludes by introducing the book’s composition.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We do not list here exhaustively all these authors as they are not globally so important as it might look like.

  2. 2.

    While this is often to be understood as a destructive process, it can be also seen as a rather very productive procedure of scientific practice as many sub-approaches, logic critiques and pitfalls are detected on both sides.

  3. 3.

    A more productive, but less ideological application of this approach is to see the four principles as “heuristic matrix” for the identification of major moral conflicts and to cluster those conflicts for further reflection (Schicktanz 2002). This path does not claim to provide final normative justification, but takes the reflective equilibrium as bridging between practice and theory, context and premise.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel

    Aviad E. Raz

  2. University Medical Center, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Silke Schicktanz

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  1. Aviad E. Raz
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  2. Silke Schicktanz
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Correspondence to Aviad E. Raz .

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Raz, A.E., Schicktanz, S. (2016). Introduction: Engaging in Comparative Bioethics. In: Comparative Empirical Bioethics: Dilemmas of Genetic Testing and Euthanasia in Israel and Germany. SpringerBriefs in Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32733-4_1

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