The Development of New Technologies as a Challenge for Modern Bioethical Views on Human Beings and World

Abstract

The article deals with bioethical challenges arising from the progress of human enhancement technologies. The focus is on the institutional framework of modern bioethics which is built in Europe from various kinds of bioethical expert bodies. In the article, special emphasis is given to the origin and development of national ethic councils in Europe which deal with the ethical dilemmas of scientific and technological progress. At the same time, the article provides a detailed explanation why the institutional framework of bioethics in East and Central European (CEE) countries, i.e. the new EU Member States, did not succeed in following the shift from traditional to modern bioethical topics. The latter is directly connected with the ethical dilemmas of the tremendous progress of human enhancement technologies. The author concludes that bioethical “cultural wars” pose the biggest threat to a shift towards a more progressive bioethical discourse in this area of Europe.