Bioethics and Biopolitics: Theories, Applications and Connections

Description

This volume links three different theoretical approaches that have a common focus on the relationship between biopolitics and bioethics. This collection of papers can be categorized into different domains that are representative of the contemporary usage of biopolitics as a concept. On the one hand, several chapters develop a clear and up-to-date understanding of the primary sources of the concept and related theories of Agamben, Negri or Foucault and approach the question of relevance within the field of bioethics. Another group of papers apply the philosophical concepts and theories of biopolitics (biopower, Homo Sacer, biocitizenship) on very specific currently debated bioethical issues. Some scholars rely on the more mundane understanding of (bio)politics and investigate how its relationship with bioethics could be philosophically conceptualized. Additionally, this work also contains papers that follow a more legally oriented analysis on the effects of contemporary biopolitics on human rights and European law. The authors are philosophers, legal scholars or bioethicists. The major strength of this volume is to provide the reader with major insights and orientation in these different contemporary usages of the concept and theories of biopolitics, within the context of its various ethically relevant applications. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvi Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Biopolitics and Biopower: The Foucauldian Approach and Its Contemporary Relevance (Ádám Takács)....Pages 3-15 Front Matter ....Pages 17-17 From Biopower to Empower – How to Get Plump, or Why Do We Choose What We Choose? (Ignaas Devisch)....Pages 19-30 Biological or Democratic Citizenship (Vilhjálmur Árnason)....Pages 31-45 Chronic Disorders of Consciousness and Homo Sacer (Andrew Edgar)....Pages 47-58 Biopolitics and the Longevity of Left-Handers (Gardar Arnason)....Pages 59-76 The “Me Molecule” (Judit Sándor)....Pages 77-91 Front Matter ....Pages 93-93 Can Boethics Escape from Biopolitics? (Henk ten Have)....Pages 95-107 Bioethics as Politics (Tuija Takala)....Pages 109-117 On the Relationship Between Bioethics and Biopolitics: What Bioethics Can Learn from Biopolitics (Darryl Gunson)....Pages 119-135