The Value of Life: Philosophical Foundations

Catalog description

Analysis of the value of life from a philosophical point of view, presenting lay foundations of bioethics. Three main steps. 1) The notion of life, which can be seen from different angles and with diverse intentions; comparative analysis of plural interpretations of the notion of life, economic, scientific, religious, and the limits of the notion itself. 2) Ethics as a theory of value, the metaphysical background of life, and the structure of bioethics; a vision of life as a "critical choice", which implies respect for life and individual responsibility; some non-Western ideas on the value of life. 3) Practical issues such as the meaning of death, abortion and euthanasia