Das Leben als Ernstfall

Die Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage nach dem guten Leben hängt unmittelbar mit dem Bewusstsein der Zeitlichkeit des individuellen Lebens zusammen. Mit dem Altern und Alter gehen jeweils paradigmatische Weisen menschlicher Zeiterfahrung einher, die einen besonderen Zugang zur Endlichkeit und Vergänglichkeit der Lebenszeit ermöglichen. Neben der Darstellung dieser Zeiterfahrungen werden gängige Bewältigungsstrategien eines Leidens an der verrinnenden sowie endlichen Zeit besprochen. Abschließend wird aufgezeigt, weshalb gerade die zeitliche Konstitution menschlichen Lebens von ethischer Relevanz für die Frage nach dem guten Leben sein kann

Patients' and professionals' views related to ethical issues in precision medicine: a mixed research synthesis

Results Many patients and professionals expect high benefits from precision medicine and have a positive attitude towards it. However, patients and professionals also perceive some risks. Commonly perceived risks include: lack of evidence for accuracy of tests and efficacy of treatments; limited knowledge of patients, which makes informed consent more difficult; possible unavailability of access to precision medicine for underprivileged people and ethnic minorities; misuse of data by insurance companies and employers, potential of racial stigmatization due to genetic information; unwanted communication of incidental findings; changes in doctor-patient-relationship through focusing on data; and the problem that patients could feel under pressure to optimize their health. Conclusions National legislation and guidelines already minimize many risks associated with precision medicine. However, from our perspective some problems require more attention. Should hopes for precision medicine's benefits be fulfilled, then the ethical principle of justice would require an unlimited access to precision medicine for all people. The potential for autonomous patients' decisions must be greatly enhanced by improvements in patient education. Harm from test results must be avoided in any case by the highest possible data security level and communication guidelines. Changes in the doctor-patient relationship and the impact of precision medicine on the quality of life should be further investigated. Additionally, the cost-effectiveness of precision medicine should be further examined, in order to avoid malinvestment

The post-antibiotic era: An existential threat for humanity

Currently, mankind is facing the risk of running out of working antibiotics. Such a post-antibiotic era bears tremendous risks such as globally spread or even pandemic bacterial infections. These infections become thus untreatable and possibly lethal, particularly endan-gering the health (care) of future generations. This paper discusses this acute concern for humanity in three main steps. After first elaborating on the role of antibiotics and the occur-ring resistance in modern medicine, the focus will be on the current scope of the problem of antibiotics and the prognosis of its future escalation. Then the possibility of a way out and its obstacles will be addressed, before finally assessing the existential threat of a post-antibiotic era

Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie / Einleitung: Altern als Paradigma - Neue Zugänge zur Zeitlichkeit des Menschen in der Ethik

Auf den ersten Blick scheint Zeit in der Ethik landläufig keine besondere Rolle zu spielen. Im Nachvollzug der maßgeblichen Diskurse kommt immer wieder der Eindruck auf, die jeweils verhandelten Sachverhalte seien zeitlose Gebilde wie geometrische Figuren oder platonische Ideen. Auch der Mensch, von dem dabei als dem moralischen Subjekt die Rede ist, tritt vielfach als ein eigentümlich alters- und zeitloses Wesen in Erscheinung. So kann mitunter sogar der Anschein einer abstrakten Zeitenthobenheit des Ethischen überhaupt entstehen. Die diachrone Dimension der Prozessualität, des Geschehens, der Veränderung und Entwicklung, in der der Aspekt der Zeitlichkeit ganz konkret erfahrbar wird, gerät in dieser Perspektive allenfalls als limitierender, epistemische Unschärfen und normative Geltungseinbußen bedingender Störfaktor in den Blick. Entsprechend ist die Bedeutung und Tragweite von Zeit und Zeitlichkeit in der Ethik bislang kaum systematisch reflektiert worden.At first glance, time seems be not a big issue for Ethics. In the re-enactment of essential discourses, we get the impression that the negotiated issues are timeless entities like geometric shapes or platonic ideas. Also humans, who are the moral subject in question, often appear as oddly age- and timeless beings. This is how sometimes the illusion of abstract, timeless Ethics can come up. In this perspective, the diachronic dimension of processuality, occurrences, changes and development, in which the aspect of temporality can actually be experienced, comes into view at best as disruptive factor: it is seen as a limiting, epistemic blur and normative value loss. Respectively, the significance and consequences of time and temporality has so far been hardly systematically reflected on in the field of Ethics

Do New Neuroimaging Findings Challenge the Ethical Basis of Advance Directives in Disorders of Consciousness?

Some authors have questioned the moral authority of advance directives (ADs) in cases in which it is not clear if the author of the AD is identical to the person to whom it later applies. This article focuses on the question of whether the latest results of neuroimaging studies have moral significance with regard to the moral authority of ADs in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOCs). Some neuroimaging findings could provide novel insights into the question of whether patients with DOCs exhibit sufficient psychological continuity to be ascribed diachronic personal identity. If those studies were to indicate that psychological continuity is present, they could justify the moral authority of ADs in patients with DOCs. This holds at least if respect for self-determination is considered as the foundation for the moral authority of ADs. The non-identity thesis in DOCs could no longer be applied, in line with clinical and social practice

Das Leben als Ernstfall. Der individuelle Lebensvollzug im Horizont der verrinnenden Zeit

Die Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage nach dem guten Leben hängt unmittelbar mit dem Bewusstsein der Zeitlichkeit des individuellen Lebens zusammen. Mit dem Altern und Alter gehen jeweils paradigmatische Weisen menschlicher Zeiterfahrung einher, die einen besonderen Zugang zur Endlichkeit und Vergänglichkeit der Lebenszeit ermöglichen. Neben der Darstellung dieser Zeiterfahrungen werden gängige Bewältigungsstrategien eines Leidens an der verrinnenden sowie endlichen Zeit besprochen. Abschließend wird aufgezeigt, weshalb gerade die zeitliche Konstitution menschlichen Lebens von ethischer Relevanz für die Frage nach dem guten Leben sein kann

Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie / Das Leben als Ernstfall : Der individuelle Lebensvollzug im Horizont der verrinnenden Zeit

Die Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage nach dem guten Leben hängt unmittelbar mit dem Bewusstsein der Zeitlichkeit des individuellen Lebens zusammen. Mit dem Altern und Alter gehen jeweils paradigmatische Weisen menschlicher Zeiterfahrung einher, die einen besonderen Zugang zur Endlichkeit und Vergänglichkeit der Lebenszeit ermöglichen. Neben der Darstellung dieser Zeiterfahrungen werden gängige Bewältigungsstrategien eines Leidens an der verrinnenden sowie endlichen Zeit besprochen. Abschließend wird aufgezeigt, weshalb gerade die zeitliche Konstitution menschlichen Lebens von ethischer Relevanz für die Frage nach dem guten Leben sein kann.An analysis of the question what a good life means is directly related to the awareness of temporality of the individual life. Aging is accompanied by paradigmatic ways of experiencing time, which allow for a special approach to mortality and finitude of the life time. Besides presenting these experiences of time, common coping strategies for suffering under the trickling and finite time are discussed. Finally, it is shown why especially a temporal constitution of human life is of ethical significance for the question what a good life is

Vom Warum zum Wozu

Background!#!People have the need to find explanations for the events that occur in their lives. This is especially true when it comes to experiences that impact a person's entire existence and endanger their self-esteem and sense of identity. Chronic pain is one such experience. The search for the cause behind such pain is primarily motivated by the expectation that once the cause of the pain has been identified, an effective pain-alleviating therapy should ensue. Due to the numerous advances in the last several decades towards understanding the fundamental mechanisms governing the origins and processing as well as the treatment of pain, such expectations towards medicine can frequently be met; however, in many cases the experiences of chronic pain remain difficult to explain and, above all, very difficult to manage.!##!Goal!#!In this article the authors aim to show that it is important to avoid fixation on the question of why, especially with people suffering from chronic pain.!##!Method!#!The article starts by describing how an exclusive orientation towards cause-effect-relationship in the medical context can also lead to negative consequences. Through recourse to the central theses of the existentialist philosopher Albert Camus, the meaning of the what for perspective is then discussed. Finally, with the example of a case study, it is illustrated how this change of perspective can result within the framework of a therapeutic treatment.!##!Results!#!The following changes in perspective are recommended: the search for the past-centered why should make way for the future-oriented quest for the what for of continuing to live a life with chronic pain