Project Details
Projekt
GRK 889: Bioethics - Theoretical Foundations, Neurosciences, Genetic Information
Subject Area
Philosophy
Term
from 2004 to 2012
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 273615
There is an increasing demand for bioethical competence. The rapid developments in biological and medical research and in its applications, both now and in the future, constantly confront us with new ethical and legal challenges. Bioethics, whether in its function as ethical reflection on current research and technology or in its anticipatory role as a sensor for possible future potentials and risks of the life sciences, is expressed in expert reports, position papers, recommendations and drafts of legislation at both national and international levels.
In this sense, bioethics is becoming increasingly institutional, in both the academic and political context. There is nevertheless a considerable gap between the growing demand for bioethical competence and available educational resources. The main reason for this is the structure of our educational system. Interdisciplinary competence, such as it is required for well-founded judgements in the field of bioethics, is difficult to acquire by way of the established degree subjects. It rather necessitates interdepartmental cooperation in which representatives of different disciplines in the natural sciences and humanities and from the medical field work together on common issues.
For this reason, the post-graduate programme "Bioethics", with its research and study programmes, will make an significant contribution to the professionalisation of interdisciplinary applied bioethics. It aims to address new issues which, despite an urgent need for clarification, have attracted little attention until now. At the same time, the programme is concerned to establish bioethics as an independent, long-term field of research alongside its relevance to questions of the application of specific techniques and technologies.
This will require increased reflection on the theoretical foundations of bioethics itself. In regard to the expanding field of bioethics, the following research emphases are envisaged for the first phase (three years) of the programme:
-- theoretical foundations of bioethics
-- ethics and philosophy of the neurosciences
-- ethics and philosophy of science regarding the use of genetic information
A particular feature of the postgraduate programme will consist of the processing of new kinds of issues which arise from interlinking individual areas of the life sciences and their technologies.
In this sense, bioethics is becoming increasingly institutional, in both the academic and political context. There is nevertheless a considerable gap between the growing demand for bioethical competence and available educational resources. The main reason for this is the structure of our educational system. Interdisciplinary competence, such as it is required for well-founded judgements in the field of bioethics, is difficult to acquire by way of the established degree subjects. It rather necessitates interdepartmental cooperation in which representatives of different disciplines in the natural sciences and humanities and from the medical field work together on common issues.
For this reason, the post-graduate programme "Bioethics", with its research and study programmes, will make an significant contribution to the professionalisation of interdisciplinary applied bioethics. It aims to address new issues which, despite an urgent need for clarification, have attracted little attention until now. At the same time, the programme is concerned to establish bioethics as an independent, long-term field of research alongside its relevance to questions of the application of specific techniques and technologies.
This will require increased reflection on the theoretical foundations of bioethics itself. In regard to the expanding field of bioethics, the following research emphases are envisaged for the first phase (three years) of the programme:
-- theoretical foundations of bioethics
-- ethics and philosophy of the neurosciences
-- ethics and philosophy of science regarding the use of genetic information
A particular feature of the postgraduate programme will consist of the processing of new kinds of issues which arise from interlinking individual areas of the life sciences and their technologies.
DFG Programme
Research Training Groups
Applicant Institution
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
Spokesperson
Professorin Dr. Eve-Marie Engels
Participating Researchers
Professor Dr. Niels Birbaumer; Professor Dr. Alireza Gharabaghi; Professor Dr. Michael Heidelberger; Privatdozentin Dr. Elisabeth Hildt; Professor Dr. Robert Horres; Professor Dr. Kristian Kühl; Professor Dr. Hanspeter A. Mallot; Dr. Ulrike Mau-Holzmann; Professor Dr. Dietmar Mieth; Professor Dr. Martin Nettesheim; Professor Dr. Thomas Potthast; Professor Dr. Olaf Riess; Professor Dr. Christoph Schwöbel; Professor Dr. Urban Wiesing
