John-Stewart Gordon

Hans Jonas ist einer der bedeutenden Denker des 20. Jahrhunderts. Das Handbuch erklärt die philosophischen, theologischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Kontexte, die sein Denken geprägt haben. Es präsentiert neben Informationen zur Biographie und den zeitgenössischen Bezügen alle wichtigen Werke und gibt Hinweise zu deren internationaler Rezeption in vielen Disziplinen. Zentrale Begriffe und Konzepte im Gesamtwerk von Hans Jonas werden ausführlich erklärt. Das internationale Autorenteam der über 50 Expertinnen und Experten aus fast 20 Ländern zeigt nicht nur das bis heute weltweite Interesse am Werk von Jonas. Sie eröffnen mit ihren Beiträgen auch eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Perspektiven auf sein Denken.

The unmatched technological achievements in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, computer science, and related fields over the last few decades can be considered a success story. The technological sophistication has been so groundbreaking in various types of applications that many experts believe that we will see, at some point or another, the emergence of general AI (AGI) and, eventually, superintelligence. This book examines the impact of AI on human rights by focusing on potential risks and human rights legislation and proposes creating a Universal Convention for the Rights of AI Systems (AI Convention).

The formerly established medically-based idea of disability, with its charity-based approach to treatment and services, is being replaced by a human rights-based approach in which people with impairments are no longer considered medical problems, totally dependent on the beneficence of non-impaired people in society, but have fundamental rights to support, inclusion, and participation. This interdisciplinary book examines the diverse concerns that people with impairments face in the context of human rights, provides insights into new developments on important issues relating human rights to disability, and features new approaches and solutions to vital problems in the current debate.

Die Vorstellung, dass sich alle ethischen Probleme mit nur einem Moralprinzip auflosen lassen, kann niemals der Komplexitat der moralischen Wirklichkeit gerecht werden. Dieses Buch stellt sich damit gegen einen erheblichen Teil der ethischen Tradition. Es ist leitende Uberzeugung, dass die traditionellen ethischen Theorien zwar jeweils einen Teilaspekt der moralischen Wirklichkeit richtig herausarbeiten - in der Anwendung jedoch falschlicherweise geglaubt wird, dass die Theorie grundsatzlich das Ganze der moralischen Wirklichkeit abdecke. Die Komplexitat eines schwierigen moralischen Problems kann nur mittels einer pluralistischen ethischen Methode angemessen gewurdigt werden.

The philosophy of Hans Jonas was widely influential in the late twentieth century, warning of the potential dangers of technological progress and its negative effect on humanity and nature. Jonas advocated greater moral responsibility and taking this as a starting point, leading international scholars and experts on his work suggest original and promising solutions to current ethical issues within the context of his philosophy. The book considers the vital intersection between law and global ethics and covers issues related to technology and ethics, medical ethics, religion and environmental ethics.

Recent scientific developments, in particular advances in pharmacogenetics and molecular genetics, have given rise to numerous predictive procedures for detecting predispositions to diseases in patients. This knowledge, however, does not necessarily promise benign results for either patients or health care professionals. The aim of this volume is to analyse issues related to prediction and prognosis as a burgeoning field of medicine, which is revolutionizing the way we understand and approach diagnosis and treatment. Combining epistemic and ethical reflection with medical expertise on contemporary practice and research, an interdisciplinary group of international experts critically examine anticipatory medicine from various perspectives, including history of medicine, bioethics, theories of science, and health economics. The highly complex issues involved in medical prediction call for a far-reaching debate on the value and scope of foreknowledge. For example, which responsibilities and burdens arise when still healthy people learn of their predisposition to diseases? How should health care insurance reflect risky life styles? Is the increasing medicalization of life connected with prevention ethically sustainable and financially possible in the developing world? These and other related issues are the subject of this timely and important book, which not only serves as an introduction to the area, but also proposes many feasible solutions to the problems outlined.

Das vorliegende Buch ist nicht nur ein anspruchsvoller philosophischer Ratgeber mit Blick auf das gute Leben in Zeiten der Orientierungslosigkeit, sondern eine Hommage an die Philosophie und die Relevanz des philosophischen Denkens für unser alltägliches Leben. Der antike Philosoph Sokrates hat einmal gesagt, dass ein Leben, das nicht hinterfragt wird, nicht lebenswert sei. Damit meint er, dass man seine eigenen Handlungen und die ethisch-moralische Ausrichtung seines Lebens bzw. seiner eigenen Lebensweise stets kritisch hinterfragen muss. Was soll ich tun? Wie kann ich ein gutes Leben führen? Welche Handlungen sollte ich vermeiden und wie werde ich ein moralisch besserer Mensch? Was sind die Grundlagen der Moral? In welchem Staat gedeiht das beste Leben am besten? Diese und ähnliche Fragen stehen im Mittelpunkt des Buches.

PovertyPoverty is a serious threat for human beings and their well-beingWell-being. People are simply unable to live a good life when they are faced with severe problems, e.g., bad education, poor housing, poor sanitationSanitation, poor hygiene, or malnourishment. However, one of the most urgent problems with regard to poverty is badHealth/ healthcare, right toaccess access to primary health careGlobal healthcare and the allocation of health care resources for millions of people around the world. These people are deprived of human flourishing, and life is for them, in general, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” In this chapter, I present an ethical argument that shows that people have a moral right to primary health carePrimary health care, and that wealthy developed countries are morally obligated to help the needy. Primary health care, and hence access to it is, as I will argue, a global public goodGlobal public good that is protected by human dignity and the human rightHuman rights of protection from unwarranted bodily harmHarm.

Nicht viele Philosophen haben eine solch große Resonanz in der Öffentlichkeit erfahren wie Hans Jonas. Das lag nicht ausschließlich an seinem Bestseller "Das Prinzip Verantwortung", der 1979/80 zu einem Medienereignis wurde. Jonas' Verdienst war es, eine ethische Debatte über die Zukunft des Menschen befeuert zu haben, die den Zeitgeist traf. Doch sind die Ideen von Hans Jonas heute noch zeitgemäß? Wie haben sich einzelne Themen weiterentwickelt? Der vorliegende Band diskutiert die Denkwege von Hans Jonas und versammelt einige Antworten von ausgewiesenen Jonas-Experten.

Some authors fear that humanity is on the verge of its own extinction and must either change its behaviour or inevitably cause its own demise. This situation has spawned a vigorous (bio)ethical debate in recent years concerning whether one should enhance human beings cognitively or morally in order to promote moral action and reduce harm. This article defends making moral bioenhancement compulsory to avoid grossly immoral actions and the global extinction of humanity, if it is available, safe and easy to administer. Two crucial issues will be examined in more detail. First, moral enhancement and free will, and second, the applicability problem, which concerns one particular political approach to accomplishing that goal.