This article provides an overview of recent contributions to the debate on the ethical use of previously collected biobank samples, as well as a country report about how this issue has been regulated in Spain by means of the new Biomedical Research Act, enacted in the summer of 2007. By contrasting the Spanish legal situation with the wider discourse of international bioethics, we identify and discuss a general trend moving from the traditional requirements of informed consent towards new models more (...) favourable to research in a post‐genomic context. (shrink)

In our research group on the philosophy of biology (www.ehu.es/ias-research), we are developing an understanding of autonomy as the maintenance of an identity over time by means of interaction with...

RESUMEN: El uso de analogías en bioética es muy frecuente. Dado que son instrumentos especialmente eficaces desde un punto de vista retórico, resulta fundamental determinar bajo qué condiciones la formulación de analogías constituye un recurso discursivo legítimo. En este artículo, distinguimos entre usos no-discursivos y usos discursivos de las analogías, y dentro de estos últimos, entre usos explicativos y usos argumentativos. En base a esta clasificación, proponemos distintos conjuntos de criterios para determinar si una analogía particular constituye un recurso discursivo (...) legítimo o no. Para ello, ilustramos brevemente nuestra clasificación mediante algunos ejemplos tomados del reciente debate sobre los biobancos.ABSTRACT: Analogies are frequently used in bioethics. As they are particularly effective as rhetorical tools, it is essential to determine under which conditions they can be said to be a legitimate discursive resource. In this paper we distinguish between nondiscursive uses and discursive uses of analogies and, within the latter, between explanatory uses and argumentative uses. Taking this classification as a basis, we provide different sets of criteria for determining whether or not a particular analogy constitutes a legitimate discursive resource. In distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate analogies, we briefly illustrate our classification by some examples from recent literature on biobanks. (shrink)

Biobanks challenge the traditional model in research ethics, in which the autonomy of subjects donating samples for biomedical research is to be protected by means of informed consent. This paper identifies a global trend towards governance models more favourable to research, in which a single act of consent is used to authorize a wide range of research projects. It argues that the protection of autonomy is often understood just as the requirement to sign an informed consent form; but the autonomy (...) of research subjects is neither an isolated decision nor a purely individual one, as it affects groups of people along time. Some ways out of this problem are discussed, both by re-conceptualizing autonomy and by expanding the informed consent process. Taking into account the relationship between public trust and donor participation, the possibility of respecting autonomy by means of narrative is suggested, with the aim of promoting the scientific culture of a population and debating the ethical issues raised by biobanks. (shrink)

Although bioethics is a lively and expanding interdisciplinary field, there is not enough research about the patient‐doctor relationship, a central issue in philosophy of medicine. This article surveys the state of the field, paying attention to recent work by Alfred Tauber, and supplementing it with insights from Hans Jonas's philosophy of technology in order to propose a principle of responsible autonomy for health care. Based on a comparative look across different sub‐fields in bioethics, the resulting model claims that physician responsibility (...) is essential to professional integrity, providing an alternative to other active trends emphasizing patient autonomy, such as Robert Veatch's contractual model. (shrink)

This paper aims to study from the perspective of bioethics the controversy about door-to-door waste collection (DtD). Three goals are pursued: (1) to provide terms of comparison between different systems of urban waste management, (2) to distinguish the specifically ethical issues introduced by DtD, and (3) analyze its innovative character as a social technology. After briefly considering the state of the art, in which a bibliographical revision shows that the ethics literature has relatively neglected this topic, Siurana’s “moral compass” is (...) applied to the question concerning waste. Next this proposal is used to describe and assess the two main models being discussed. After introducing the most innovative features of DtD, some recommendations are issued and plausible objections answered. (shrink)

Tras una revisión bibliográfica, el artículo proporciona una presentación de la filosofía política de Henry D. Thoreau, enfatizando en su obra un concepto de autodeterminación cívica que Habermas descompone en una autonomía pública y otra privada. Sostengo que Thoreau no era un anarquista antisocial, ni tampoco un mero liberal individualista, sino que su liberalismo presenta elementos propios de la teoría democrática e incluso del comunitarismo político. Finalmente, identifico y describo una tensión entre esos temas liberales y democráticos, tanto en la (...) obra de Thoreau como en la vida política de las sociedades occidentales, mostrando así la relevancia de este autor. (shrink)

Reseña de: Siurana, Juan Carlos (2009) La sociedad ética. Indicadores para evaluar éticamente una sociedad, Barcelona, Proteus.

El uso de analogías en bioética es muy frecuente. Dado que son instrumentos especialmente eficaces desde un punto de vista retórico, resulta fundamental determinar bajo qué condiciones la formulación de analogías constituye un recurso discursivo legítimo. En este artículo, distinguimos entre usos no-discursivos y usos discursivos de las analogías, y dentro de estos últimos, entre usos explicativos y usos argumentativos. En base a esta clasificación, proponemos distintos conjuntos de criterios para determinar si una analogía particular constituye un recurso discursivo legítimo (...) o no. Para ello, ilustramos nuestra clasificación mediante ejemplos tomados del reciente debate ético y jurídico sobre los biobancos. (shrink)

The target article by Alexander Kon (2009) offers an excellent conceptual toolkit to analyze the current literature on empirical bioethics, a topic which has attracted so much attention in the bioe...

Ethics committees are one of the main agents in the governance of science and technology, especially in the field of health care. This paper analyses some aspects of their nature, which show the internal relationship between the moral and the scientific-technological domains. Being both knowledge providers and users thereof, ethics committees deliberate and decide on complex contemporary ethical issues. To pursue their aims, they require adequate technical tools in order to deliberate and choose using new technologies of communication and information. (...) These tools carry new problems with themselves, so committees must acquire a mixed nature, dynamic, interdisciplinary and inclusive. Ethics committees do not only constitute a control device, rather they are an interactive means for the creation of value in society. (shrink)