Biotechnologies and Human Dignity

Modern biotechnologies are among the reasons explaining the new focus on the idea of human dignity in public, political and scientific discourses. Topics being debated range from assisted reproduction, cloning, genetic diagnostics and genetic intervention, neuroprosthetics, cyborgs or artificial life all the way to visions of ‘transhumanism’ or ‘posthumanity’. With their potential for bringing about radical transformations, advanced biotechnologies are forcing the notion and boundaries of what is human to be revisited. The biological foundations of humankind are more and more accessible, can be modified in a targeted way, and thus become the object of decisions. Naturalistic self-descriptions are being questioned and replaced by forms of description which are explicitly culturally constructed. We have to rethink the very question of what it means to be human and how we are to construct human boundaries or the difference between human beings and their environment. This creates a new background for the normative concepts of human rights, rights of the individual and human dignity. Through reference to the dignity of a human being and to the idea of dignity, the concept of human dignity implies notions attached to what constitutes being human. This fundamental meaning is supported by the multifarious traditions of human dignity, by its function as a key concept in interdisciplinary debates and not least by its prominent status in legal texts and discourses. Views of the role of human dignity, though, could not be more divergent. The conviction that dignity is an essential normative concept is juxtaposed with criticism that it is useless, nebulous, incoherent or even reactionary. This article starts by providing an overview of significant biotechnological fields and visions as well as of essential discussions referring to human dignity. The analysis identifies core problems and new challenges regarding human dignity and its use as an argument (I.). Since biotechnologies and the societal discourse on them develop, approaches to human dignity and potential violations become more nuanced (I. A-H.). The second part examines, particularly with regard to new challenges of biotechnologies, legal contexts of human dignity, especially texts and documents enshrining human dignity (II. A.), legislation (II. B.), the reasoning of courts (II. C.) and scientific discourses (II. D.). In the final part of this article, I will focus on the need to contextualize and differentiate the concept of human dignity – a concept that is probably more obviously than ever before a social construction as well as an extraordinarily complex legal conception (III.). Biotechnologies will prove to be a productive field of reference for discourse about human dignity, and the idea of human dignity is by no means useless

Biotechnologies and Human Dignity

Modern biotechnologies are among the reasons explaining the new focus on the idea of human dignity in public, political and scientific discourses. Topics being debated range from assisted reproduction, cloning, genetic diagnostics and genetic intervention, neuroprosthetics, cyborgs or artificial life all the way to visions of ‘transhumanism’ or ‘posthumanity’. With their potential for bringing about radical transformations, advanced biotechnologies are forcing the notion and boundaries of what is human to be revisited. The biological foundations of humankind are more and more accessible, can be modified in a targeted way, and thus become the object of decisions. Naturalistic self-descriptions are being questioned and replaced by forms of description which are explicitly culturally constructed. We have to rethink the very question of what it means to be human and how we are to construct human boundaries or the difference between human beings and their environment. This creates a new background for the normative concepts of human rights, rights of the individual and human dignity. Through reference to the dignity of a human being and to the idea of dignity, the concept of human dignity implies notions attached to what constitutes being human. This fundamental meaning is supported by the multifarious traditions of human dignity, by its function as a key concept in interdisciplinary debates and not least by its prominent status in legal texts and discourses. Views of the role of human dignity, though, could not be more divergent. The conviction that dignity is an essential normative concept is juxtaposed with criticism that it is useless, nebulous, incoherent or even reactionary. This article starts by providing an overview of significant biotechnological fields and visions as well as of essential discussions referring to human dignity. The analysis identifies core problems and new challenges regarding human dignity and its use as an argument (I.). Since biotechnologies and the societal discourse on them develop, approaches to human dignity and potential violations become more nuanced (I. A-H.). The second part examines, particularly with regard to new challenges of biotechnologies, legal contexts of human dignity, especially texts and documents enshrining human dignity (II. A.), legislation (II. B.), the reasoning of courts (II. C.) and scientific discourses (II. D.). In the final part of this article, I will focus on the need to contextualize and differentiate the concept of human dignity – a concept that is probably more obviously than ever before a social construction as well as an extraordinarily complex legal conception (III.). Biotechnologies will prove to be a productive field of reference for discourse about human dignity, and the idea of human dignity is by no means useless

Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS'09)

The Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS) is held alternately in France and in Germany. The conference of February 26-28, 2009, held in Freiburg, is the 26th in this series. Previous meetings took place in Paris (1984), Saarbr¨ucken (1985), Orsay (1986), Passau (1987), Bordeaux (1988), Paderborn (1989), Rouen (1990), Hamburg (1991), Cachan (1992), W¨urzburg (1993), Caen (1994), M¨unchen (1995), Grenoble (1996), L¨ubeck (1997), Paris (1998), Trier (1999), Lille (2000), Dresden (2001), Antibes (2002), Berlin (2003), Montpellier (2004), Stuttgart (2005), Marseille (2006), Aachen (2007), and Bordeaux (2008). ..

26th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS)

http://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2009/1858International audienceThe Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS) is held alternately in France and in Germany. The conference of February 26-28, 2009, held in Freiburg, is the 26th in this series. Previous meetings took place in Paris (1984), Saarbrücken (1985), Orsay (1986), Passau (1987), Bordeaux (1988), Paderborn (1989), Rouen (1990), Hamburg (1991), Cachan (1992), Würzburg (1993), Caen (1994), München (1995), Grenoble (1996), Lübeck (1997), Paris (1998), Trier (1999), Lille (2000), Dresden (2001), Antibes (2002), Berlin (2003), Montpellier (2004), Stuttgart (2005), Marseille (2006), Aachen (2007), and Bordeaux (2008). The interest in STACS has remained at a high level over the past years. The STACS 2009 call for papers led to over 280 submissions from 41 countries. Each paper was assigned to three program committee members. The committee selected 54 papers during a two-week electronic meeting held at the beginning of November. As co-chairs of the program committee, we would like to sincerely thank its members and the many external referees for their valuable work. The overall very high quality of the submissions made the selection a difficult task. We would like to express our thanks to the three invited speakers, Monika Henzinger, Jean-Eric Pin and Nicole Schweikardt, for their contributions to the proceedings. Special thanks go to Andrei Voronkov for his EasyChair software (www.easychair.org). Moreover, we would like to thank Sonja Lauer for preparing the conference proceedings and continuous help throughout the conference organization. For the second time, this years STACS proceedings are published in electronic form. A printed version was also available at the conference, with ISBN 978-3-939897-09-5. The electronic proceedings are available through several portals, and in particular through HAL and DROPS. HAL is an electronic repository managed by several French research agencies, and DROPS is the Dagstuhl Research Online Publication Server. We want to thank both these servers for hosting the proceedings of STACS and guaranteeing them perennial availability. The rights on the articles in the proceedings are kept with the authors and the papers are available freely, under a Creative Commons license (see www.stacs- conf.org/faq.html for more details). STACS 2009 received funds from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungs- gemeinschaft, DFG) and the University of Freiburg. We thank them for their support

Children's opinions about organ donation:a first step to assent?

Background: Parents have to decide about organ donation after the death of their child. Although most parents probably would like to respect their child's intentions, parents often are not aware of their child's wishes. This requires insight into children's opinions about donation. Methods: An internet survey that investigated whether Dutch children in the age range of 12 through 15 years had heard about organ donation, what their opinions were on donation and whether the topic had been discussed at home. Questionnaire response rate 38%. Results: Around 99% of 2016 responders had heard about organ donation and about the possibility of becoming a donor, 75% preferred to decide for themselves about donation, 43% had discussed organ donation more than once at home, 66% were willing to donate. The willingness to donate was positively associated with age and socio-economic status. Conclusion: This survey indicates that these children at 12 through 15 years of age are capable and willing to think about organ donation. Thought should be given about how to raise awareness and how to enable parents and children to develop some sort of health literacy concerning the concept of organ donation. Children and their parents should be given adequate opportunities to receive appropriate information, suited to their psychological and moral developmental status

Education on organ donation and transplantation in primary school; teachers' support and the first results of a teaching module

Organ and tissue donation can also involve children. Because of its sensitivity, this topic requires careful decision making. Children have the ability to carefully reflect on this subject and enjoy participating in family discussions about it. Therefore, what children need is proper information. When schools are used to educate children about this subject, information about teacher support for this type of lesson along with its effects on the depth of family discussions is important.A questionnaire was sent to all 7,542 primary schools in the Netherlands. The goal was to gather information on teachers' perspectives about a neutral lesson devoted to organ and tissue donation, and also on the best age to start giving such a lesson. The second part of our study examined the effects of a newly developed lesson among 269 primary school pupils. The school response was 23%. Of these, 70% were positive towards a lesson; best age to start was 10-11 years. Pupils reported 20% more family discussions after school education and enjoyed learning more about this topic. There is significant support in primary schools for a school lesson on organ and tissue donation. Educational programs in schools support family discussions

Digitale Schwellen: Freiheit und Privatheit in der digitalisierten Welt

Eine Welt digitaler Techniken im weitesten Sinne verändert die Kommunikationsbeziehungen, die sozialen Beziehungen der Menschen untereinander und damit auch die sozialen Verhältnisse der Menschen in der Gesellschaft in fundamentaler Weise. Wir stehen ganz offensichtlich erst an der Schwelle des Verstehens dieser komplexen und alle Lebensbereiche verändernden Revolution. Die technischen Möglichkeiten, die unser Leben ja auch erleichtern können und schöner und klüger machen, werden in großer Geschwindigkeit erweitert, immer neue Schwellen des Mach- und Denkbaren werden permanent überschritten. Redaktionsschluss: April 201

Die Determination polizeilicher Tätigkeit in den Bereichen der Straftatenverhütung und der Verfolgungsvorsorge

Albers M. Die Determination polizeilicher Tätigkeit in den Bereichen der Straftatenverhütung und der Verfolgungsvorsorge. Schriften zum öffentlichen Recht ; 842. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot; 2001