[Biotechnology and ethics]

Biotechnology confronts us with ethical questions, that cannot be satisfactorily answered on the basis of traditional ethics in every case. The reason is that the development of technology influences traditional ethical conceptions and often gives rise to a wide variety of ethical views (abortion, euthanasia). After a general discussion of the causes of ethical differences, the role of technological developments in this regard is examined. This leads to the conclusion that technology is not ethically neutral. The increase of science and technology is ethically good. This conclusion does not imply that each of science or technology is also good. After the discussion of the relationship between ethics and technology in general, the results are applied to biotechnology.