Bioetika i kultura. Može li bioetika pridonijeti stvaranju interkulturalnosti?

Abstract

Diachronically, bioethics came into being in a late/reflective modern multi-cultural milieu, in the USA. Ever since Van Rensselaer Potter wrote his book Bioethics – Bridge to the Future, bioethics has been, in its main trajectory, developing as a multi-disciplinary project – turning, gradually, into an inter-disciplinary project. Is there a connection between its early multi-disciplinary character and multi-cultural character of its birth-place? The answer is – probably yes. At least due to the fact that both "multis" correspond with the very nature/logic of ontol-ogy of the entire historical process, the essential trait of which has always been differentiation, namely, transformation (as Herbert Spencer would put it) from homogeneity to – at first, indefinite and later on, definite – heterogeneity. It is also rather probable that there is a cause-effect relation between the two "multis"; heterogeneity of bioethics was, ultimately, an effect of heterogeneity of socio-cultural milieu in which it was generated. Yet, there is a significant difference between the two "multis".Besides multi-cultural (less definite heterogeneous), there is a conception according to which there are inter-cultural (definite heterogeneous) milieus. Some authors argue that only the latter are genuine, authentically human systems of human interdependency. In reality, how-ever, multi-cultural milieus do exist, whereas inter-cultural systems are still an ideal type (or utopia). On the other hand, bioethics has developed over the past (almost) four decades, from multi- to a real inter-disciplinary project, especially recently, within the conception of integrativebioethics.The question is: does bioethics, in its integrative version, have capacities to practically con-tribute (to become a cause in turn) to transformations of multi- into inter-cultural systems of human interdependency? And, if it has such capacities, how can we use them in achieving that end? Finally, what should be the first step? Probably formulating The Manifesto of integra-tive bioethics? So, let us do it.