Religious and cultural legitimacy of bioethics: lessons from Islamic bioethics
- 9 February 2013
- journal article
- scientific contribution
- Published by Springer Nature in Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy
- Vol. 16 (4), 671-677
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-013-9472-6
Abstract
Islamic religious norms are important for Islamic bioethical deliberations. In Muslim societies religious and cultural norms are sometimes confused but only the former are considered inviolable. I argue that respect for Islamic religious norms is essential for the legitimacy of bioethical standards in the Muslim context. I attribute the legitimating power of these norms, in addition to their purely religious and spiritual underpinnings, to their moral, legal, and communal dimensions. Although diversity within the Islamic ethical tradition defies any reductionist or essentialist reconstruction, legitimacy is secured mainly by approximation of Islamic ethical ideals believed to be inherent in the scriptural texts, rather than by the adoption of particular dogmatic or creedal views. With these characteristics, Islamic (bio) ethics may provide useful insights for comparative ethics and global bioethics.Keywords
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