The subject of the study is the analysis of two arguments that have appeared in the Czech-Slovak philosophical setting in the context of discussions about the moral evaluation of research into stem cells of human embryos. We have presented various reasons (varied understandings of potentiality and the vagueness of the expression “living human body”), on the basis of which we must reject the argument of P. Volek concerning the unconditional protection of each human zygote. With respect to the argument of A. Doležal, D. Černý a T. Doležal, we have shown that their critique of the conception of non-individuality of the early human embryo relies on the identification of the concept of the “individual” with the concept “particular” which, for ontological reasons, cannot be accepted. In both of the analysed bioethical arguments the key role of metaphysical concepts and conceptions is easily demonstrated.
According to Islamic anthropology, man was created by God and is existentially absolutely dependent on Him. God is the Creator and Lord of every human being. Man as a creature of God is a being composed of a material element and a spiritual element. God is a being composed of the element material and spiritual element. This perspective on man and the soul-body relationship has existed in Islam from its beginnings. Despite this, Muslim thinkers, in order to make the doctrine of Islam more attractive, have tried to combine it with Greek philosophy. The work of Aristotle had a particularly strong influence on Muslim thinkers. For Stagirite, the body-soul relationship is a relationship of unity and complementarity, a psychosomatic whole. Particularly influential, until the end of the Middle Ages, was Aristotle’s view that the fetus becomes a full human being forty days after conception if the fetus is male, and ninety days after conception in the case of the female fetus. In this article, we follow the “footsteps” of Aristotelian decisions still present in contemporary bioethical thinking of Islam, paying particular attention to the debate about the ontological status of the human fetus. There is a difference in opinion of contemporary Muslim thinkers as to the status of the human fetus in the early stages of pregnancy. Some authors believe that regardless of the circumstances the fetus is fully human from 40th day after conception. Others argue that the fetus becomes a human being in the full sense of the word only from 120th day from the moment of conception, from when – as they claim – it has not only the body, but also the soul. Abortion, from the moment at which the fetus becomes fully human, and therefore has a soul, is seen as a form of murder and is one of the worst sins in Islam.
One of the difficult cases the biomedical practice encounters is concerned with the ethical conduct with ectopic pregnancy (eccysis). The conviction is fairly common that ectopic pregnancy has to be terminated as soon as possible, as such an intervention gives a very good prognosis and allows minimizing the risk of maternal death. In urgent situations the developing embryo is removed by surgical intervention. In the case of early treatment of ectopic pregnancy methotrexate is used rather than surgery. In the practical dimension, however, such an action is directed against the embryo, effecting the destruction of it. In the case of an early detection of such a pregnancy and the mother’s good health it is also possible to refrain from immediate intervention and to wait and carefully observe the situation. This is because cases of an ectopic pregnancy ending in delivering a live and healthy baby are fairly common. From the Christian point of view action directed immediately against the human fetus is excluded. From the moral point of view detecting an immediately threatening rupture of the Fallopian tube or the cervix, usually after 7-10 weeks of gestation, is the most difficult. Removing the affected tissue or organ (or a part of it) where the embryo has implanted is morally acceptable. The source of threat to the mother is not the embryo, but the changes occurring in the tissue of the organ where it is developing. It is necessary to remove the tissue and it is the tissue that is the object of the surgical intervention. Terminating the pregnancy and the death of the baby is a side effect of the intervention that cannot be avoided. Such a surgical intervention is then assessed from the perspective of two classical moral principles: the holism principle and the principle “voluntarium indirectum” (an act with a double result). This interpretation is affirmed by statements of the Magisterium.
XX
Jeden z trudnych przypadków, z którymi spotyka się praktyka biomedyczna, dotyczy etycznego postępowania w przypadku ciąży ektopowej (pozamacicznej). Dosyć powszechne jest przekonanie, że ciąża ektopowa musi być szybko zakończona, gdyż takie postępowanie daje dobre rokowania i pozwala zminimalizować ryzyko śmierci matki. W sytuacjach ciecierpiących zwłoki rozwijający się płód usuwa się na drodze ingerencji inwazyjnej. W przypadku wcześnie rozpoznanej ciąży ektopowej medycyna wybiera raczej oddziaływanie farmakologiczne, przeważnie przy pomocy metotreksatu (methotrexate). W wymiarze praktycznym powyższe działania są jednak bezpośrednio wymierzone w embrion, powodując jego zniszczenie. W przypadku wczesnego wykrycia takiej ciąży i dobrej kondycji zdrowotnej matki, możliwe jest również powstrzymanie się od natychmiastowych ingerencji i wyczekiwanie połączone z uważną obserwacją. Dosyć częste są bowiem przypadki samowyleczenia. Znane są również rzadkie przypadki donoszenia ciąży ektopowej i urodzenia zdrowego dziecka. Z punktu widzenia chrześcijańskiego wykluczone jest działanie wymierzone wprost w ludzki embrion. Najtrudniejsze z moralnego punktu widzenia jest rozpoznanie bliskiego w czasie pęknięcia jajowodu lub szyjki macicy, przeważnie po 7-10 tygodniach ciąży. Moralnie dopuszczalne jest usunięcie tkanki lub organu (jego części), w którym embrion się zagnieździł. Źródłem zagrożenia dla matki nie jest embrion, ale zmiany dokonujące się w tkance organu, w którym on się rozwija. Konieczne jest jej usunięcie i ona jest celem chirurgicznej ingerencji. Skutkiem ubocznym tej ingerencji jest niemożliwe do uniknięcia zakończenie ciąży i wtórna śmierć´ dziecka. Taką ingerencję medyczną ocenia się więc z perspektywy dwóch klasycznych zasad moralnych: zasady całościowości i zasady „voluntarium indirectum” (czynu o podwójnym skutku). Powyższa interpretacja znajduje afirmację w wypowiedziach Magisterium Kościoła.
In April 2014 The Constitutional Court in Italy was called to judge parts of the Law 40/2004 and cancelled the prohibition of the methods of heterological artificial reproduction. This decision opened a new stage of the public dispute about artificial reproduction that has been held in Italy for last 20 years. The most significant principle of the legislation from the year 2004 was the recognition of the human embryo as a human being from the very moment of conception. The law in Italy forbade, among others, producing human embryos for scientific purposes, freezing and destroying human beings. The opponents of such legal regulations evoked the nationwide referendum in 2005 which did not manage to repeal the operative legislation. In 2015 the Italian Parliament will adopt a special law regulating the use of the methods of heterological artificial reproduction.
In Italy for the last decade, a very interesting public debate has been conducted about artificial reproduction. An important step in this discussion was the adoption in 2004 a special law regulating the use of the in vitro method. In 2014 the Constitutional Court cancelled the prohibition, existing in this document, of the methods of heterological artificial reproduction. A very important part of the debate on the Tiber are different kinds of philosophical arguments. The most interesting or very representative voices in this discussion include statements of Oriana Fallaci, Vittorio Possenti, and Gianni Vattimo.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.