Beginn: SoSe 2010
Betreuung: PD Dr. Alexander Knorr
Förderung: beantragt
Promotionsprojekt
Bioethics and post-humanism: The social reframing of future citizenship and difference
This project is devoted to the analysis of the relation between Post-Humanism and Bioethics, and the social impact of Capitalism as a driving force in constraining the conceptualization of Human and Human Rights.
Through technological advancement and progressive commoditization of the human body, its views in society and culture are transformed in light of the transitioning of the traditional Humanist discourse as an embedded paradigm in Western legislative and religious discourse to a new conceptualization of self, the individual and the Human. Beyond the techno-scientific realm, economic systems, namely Capitalism, affect both ethical standards relative to the human body and embodiment, and the bioethical debate is deeply connected to the reconceptualization of Person and Human, namely through the decomposing and functionalization of the body that Western thought and, in particular, Western medicine has both reflected and promoted.
The thesis will research on the dichotomous relation between social and cultural Humanist discourses and the impact of the commoditization of the human body promoted by Capitalism, primarily through medical advancements promoted in cosmetic surgery, organ markets, genetic testing and engineering, pharmaceuticals production and focused therapies.