Discussions on Bioethics in Socio-Philosophical and Legal Contexts

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the interaction between philosophical, legal, biological and medical knowledge in the context of development of bioethics. Special attention is paid to the evolution of philosophical foundations of bioethics in the context of human rights. The process of drafting the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights posed a number of new philosophical problems to the international community, generalization of the experience of the philosophical development of the civilization becoming one of the most important. This generalization would be impossible without overcoming the multiplicity of philosophical schools, trends and approaches that accompany philosophy throughout its development. Relying on the humanistic ideals of the Renaissance and the mottos of the Enlightenment, the philosophers of the 20th century formulated the universalist model of human rights that was criticized from the standpoint of philosophical pluralism and cultural relativism. The way out was found by appealing to the philosophy of existentialism, the ideas and categorical apparatus of which formed the basis for the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. All this made it possible to form an effective body of legal regulation of therapeutic and cognitive practices — the ethics committee that contrary to the objections of some theorists, can be considered as a permanent philosophical seminar.