There is a family of issues considered to be at the forefront of social problems facing the nation and our world today: the possibility of global warming due to human consumption of fossil fuels; life extending advances in medicine; advances in various technology fields; and the list goes on.
That being the case, in this short essay, I would like to briefly consider the following question: what is the relative importance of the study of bioethics on the social agenda?
Although it often appears that the “big questions” fall into the categories of those problems mentioned above, in what classically would be considered the technical sciences, as the philosopher Aristotle pointed out in his perennial work, Nichomachean Ethics, our goal should not be just to live or to get along in relative comfort (which is often what technical achievements yield), but to live well, to flourish.
What is the great connection one might ask, between flourishing and the importance of bioethics? The answer, according to Aristotle, is that in order to flourish one must live in accord with his nature, or fulfill his natural being, and what makes us human most of all is our capacity for rational activities. However, our rational powers are not limited to the ability for great technical achievement, such as advances in medicine, but we are also able to identify actions that are right and wrong, to point out good or bad patterns of behavior.
Thus, in order to really be happy and fulfilled as human beings, we have to identify what is right and wrong and then make efforts to live rightly. After all, it should be plain to see that unethical behavior only breeds unhappiness and discontent for all concerned parties. Just consider instances of deception, stealing, abuse; the final result is usually alienation, depression, obvious violence, et cetera. For instance, in families where one member is abusive, all the parties involved suffer tremendously and there are often social effects which span several generations. Therefore, unethical behavior is a source of unhappiness often not only on account of one's guilty conscience but also various negative social outcomes. Aristotle's argument turns eventually on the fact of whether in general we desire to be good, upstanding individuals, treating others as we would want to be treated. Fundementally, this is what it means to be a moral human being, to have concern and act with a view to the genuine good of others. And, commonly, it would seem that few would deny this aspiration.
The goal, accordingly, of the field of bioethics is to discover and argue intelligently for standards of right and wrong action relevant to the biological sciences and bio-technology. In general, bioethics has developed as a field of ethical research in response to the rapid increase in the past century of science, medicine, and technology, bringing new possibilities for human action. Just as we would want to identify fair and humane practices within various other areas of our lives, such as business, markets, government, family, et cetera, bioethicists seek to elaborate on right and wrong in the context of this growth of the sciences and as new practices concern the ethical treatment of our fellow human beings.
Thus, there are largely considered to be three main areas of bioethics: (1) beginning of life issues (ethical matters which have as a concern when life begins, such as the issue of abortion/elective termination of pregnancy and embryonic stem cell research); (2) the coming to be of life (ethical matters concerned with how life should come to be, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and artificial fertilization); and, (3) end of life issues (ethical matters which have at issue when life ends/should end, for instance euthanasia and the definition of death).
Although bioethics is a rather complex field, since it involves both an adequate understanding of various biological sciences along with the developments occurring in these fields as well as some knowledge of basic modes of ethical analysis, it is important to make an effort especially when faced with these kinds of decisions to consult relevant literature as well as to weigh various arguments with great seriousness. And, after all, if Aristotle was right in saying that we are most of all rational creatures, we should make our best efforts to live up to this in order to be happy individuals as well as to create a more just and peaceful society. Bioethical issues, then, are worthy of consideration as among the most critical and pressing problems of our time.
