Dr. theol. Ulrich H.J. Körtner ist Professor für Systematische Theologie an der Evangelisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Wien.

Das Phänomen des Ethischen ist dem Konflikt der Interpretationen ausgesetzt. Er äußert sich nicht nur in ethischen Kontroversen, sondern auch als Konflikt ethischer Grundkonzeptionen und Menschenbilder. Verstärkt wird in jüngster Zeit über das spezifische Profil evangelischer Ethik und Urteilsbildung nachgedacht. Die Beiträge dieses Buches konfrontieren entsprechende Bemühungen mit der provokanten These R. Bultmanns, es gebe gar keine christliche Ethik, sofern darunter einer Theorie über das verstanden werde, was Christen zu tun und zu lassen haben.

In the wake of massive structural changes within the world trade the WTO faces important challenges. Like an invisible world govemment the WTO uses its agreement as a sort of basic law. This basic law demands equal chances for every human being in the world. Therefore it is important to strengthen the WTO in order to pave the way for fair conditions within the world trade. This essay asks which circumstances are necessary to achieve this goal.

Ergebnisse und Konsequenzen der Hirnforschung stoßen auf breites Interesse und werden in der Öffentlichkeit kontrovers diskutiert. Die Realität des Mentalen, die Freiheit des Willens und schließlich auch die Frage nach Gott und dem Ursprung von Religion stehen auf dem Prüfstand. Philosophie und Theologie sind herausgefordert, sich an der Debatte zu beteiligen. Der vorliegende Band führt in die gegenwärtige Diskussion zur Philosophie und zur Theologie des Geistes ein.

This article deals with theological criterions of medical ethics which depends on biblical anthropology and Christian doctrine for the Creation. It criticizes the assertion that life is not disposible as an example of wrong deduction from is to ought. The article also deals with the concept of person and the moral status of embryos and discusses the consequences for medical genetics and prenatal diagnostics.

Zusammenfassung„Frailty“ ist ein noch junges Konzept in der Geriatrie. Hilfsbedürftigkeit und Verletzbarkeit verweisen letztlich auf anthropologische Grundtatbestände. „Gebrechlichkeit“ ist freilich keine Krankheit und keine unausweichliche Begleiterscheinung des Alters, sondern das Resultat unterschiedlicher Faktoren, die letztlich in einem sozialen Kontext begriffen werden müssen. Das führt zu einer Reihe von individual-, personalund sozialethischen Fragen. Trotz definitorischer Schwierigkeiten ist Frailty ein sinnvolles geriatrisches Konzept, weil es eine ganzheitliche Sichtweise von Multimorbidität und ihren Auswirkungen auf die individuellen Lebensumstände sowie die subjektiv empfundene Lebensqualität alter (...) Menschen fördert. Die Diskussion über Phänomen und Ursachen von Gebrechlichkeit im Alter kann außerdem zu einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit modischen Spielarten von Anti- Ageing-Medizin und der latenten Diskriminierung alter Menschen beitragen. (shrink)

The article provides an overview of important topics in contemporary medical ethics. Methodologically, it is a literature review. The article addresses only a limited selection of the problematic areas, which are, however, related to each other: digitisation of medicine, genome editing, personalised medicine as well as ethical problems and dilemmas of allocation in healthcare. The global COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a focus and trigger. Reflections on human rights and justice in medicine are fundamental not only on the individual and (...) social level but also on a global scale. The fundamental question is how society as a whole can be involved in the complex biopolitical and bioethical debate. The social and cultural consequences of life increasingly being understood as a technical product rather than a gift are serious.Contribution: The article also reflects on the specific contribution that Christian theology, and in particular the reformed heritage, can make to bioethical debates in modern society. The distinction between instrumental knowledge [Verfügungswissen] and orientational knowledge [Orientierungswissen] is helpful for its better understanding. A crucial result of this article is that medical treatment is repeatedly faced with ethical dilemmas. Moreover, medical progress not only creates new and better solutions to medical problems, it also raises new ethical questions that did not exist before. The purpose of medical ethics lies in identifying such dilemmas and developing ethical decision-making processes that help us to deal with such dilemmas to some extent. (shrink)

For the political, the theological and church discussion about reproductive medicine and genetics in Germany it might be helpful to take a Iook on the situation in other European countries. The above article informs about the discussion in Austria, which has a law of reproductive medicine since 1992. The focus of analysis lies on the legal and moral status of the embryo. It is questionable to argue that an embryo is a person. Concerning the protection of the embryo there are (...) general philosophical reasons but also reasons of theological anthropology which lead to a position of tutiorism. In general a strict protection of the embryo must be granted, but under certain circumstances there are valid reasons for a balance of ethical goods. Detailed questions which are discussed are new indications for in-vitro-fertilization and the ethical issues of preimplantation diagnosis, of research on embryonie stem cells and of therapeutic cloning. (shrink)

In the ecumenical discussion, the lingering differences between the concessions are realised more generally again. Not only does this apply for dogmatics, but also for ethics. Eberhard Schockenhoff’s critical inquiries are recognised as a helpful impulse for the self-control of protestant ethics in the sense of an »ecumenism of objection«. However, Schockenhoff’s allegation of breaking with traditions in this respect calls for closer examination. Besides that, unsolved questions have to be put to Catholic moral theology. Some of these include the (...) role of the Christian teaching authority, and the exposure to plurality. (shrink)

All the medical and bioethical questions, ranging from stem cell research to converging technologies and synthetic biology, touch on the question regarding the image of human beings and their position in the cosmos, by which we are able to orient ourselves. This article argues that the biblical belief in creation and the discourse about humans as created beings by and in the image of God can still be proclaimed as a viable form of human self-interpretation in the present. The distinction (...) between practical knowledge and knowledge of orientation may be of help here. Guidance for how to live and act is not best found in abstract principles, but rather in meaningful stories, in metaphors and symbols. On this level, too, is also where faith in creation and the certainty of our own creatureliness is located. Contribution: This article interprets the doctrine of creation by a hermeneutical theology. It analyses the interdependence between hermeneutics and criticism in the process of reinterpreting the classical propositions about the human being and the world as God’s creation and the relation of anthropology and ethics. The aim is to show what might be the contribution of Christian faith in creation to the approach of an ethics of responsibility in the field of bioethics and ecology. The specific contribution of this article to current debates on an ethics of creation is the thesis that the key to a well-balanced theological approach to all this is the Pauline doctrine of justification as interpreted by the protestant reformers. (shrink)

The nationwide supply with the afferings of Palliative Care is a generally acknowledged aim. But it is disputed whether it is a sufficient alternative to death on demand or assisted suicide. This is being discussed on a European level. But what the current discussion is Jacking of, are empirical studies regarding the culture of dying. The case study at hand Iooks into the basic social and cultural conditions in a large city. It also discusses the consequences of religious change and (...) the inter-religious situation on the palliativemovement and their relation to the churches. (shrink)