Materials

Issue 151: Sass, Hans-Martin: Ambiguities in Biopolitics of Stem Cell Resarch for Therapy. March 2004

In Ambiguities in Biopolitics of Stem Cell Research for Therapy Hans-Martin Sass differentiates between a moral a-priori intuition directly calling to care for the sick and suffering and an indirect application of a-priori moral intuition, refined and argued for by the individual conscience and religious and philosophical traditions and cultures. While saving life and healing or eliviating suffering is morally and culturally not controversial, differences in the moral assessment of forms of early unborn human life are an indirect expression of genuine and authentic, but different moral visions and values, refined by individual conscience and different traditions and teachings. In calling to respect the dignity of the individual conscience, he rejects governmental moral tutilage and legal paternalism in criminalizing or severely limiting human stem cell research; instead, he calls on political ethics and practice to let competent citizens and patients decide for themselves whether or not to take part in embryonic stem cell research or accept future medical treatment based on such research.