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Religion and bioethics.
1Cardiff Law School, PO Box 427, Cardiff CF10 3XJ, Wales, UK. Holms@man.ac.uk
Summary
Religious arguments are valid in public bioethics debates. Attempts to exclude them fail because distinguishing religious from non-religious arguments is arbitrary, and all views stem from contested worldviews.
Area of Science:
- Bioethics
- Philosophy of Religion
- Public Policy
Background:
- Public bioethical debates often involve diverse perspectives, including religious viewpoints.
- Excluding religious arguments from public discourse is a recurring, yet contested, practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically examine the validity and justification for excluding religious arguments in public bioethical discussions.
- To analyze the philosophical underpinnings of distinguishing religious from secular arguments.
Main Methods:
- Philosophical argumentation and conceptual analysis.
- Examination of the nature of comprehensive worldviews and their role in public discourse.
Main Results:
- It is not possible to non-arbitrarily separate religious arguments from non-religious ones.
- All arguments, religious or not, are ultimately grounded in comprehensive, often contested, worldviews.
- There is no sound basis for treating religious arguments differently from other types of arguments in public debate.
Conclusions:
- Religious arguments possess legitimate standing within public bioethical debates.
- Calls to exclude religious perspectives from bioethics are philosophically unfounded.
- Promoting inclusive and comprehensive public discourse requires valuing all reasoned arguments, regardless of their origin.