However, in easily understood language, ethics has been reduced to a shield that creates the minimum standards necessary to avoid hindering the development of science and technology, as well as economic growth. In other words, the purpose of bioethics is to protect human dignity. Still, upon closer examination, it reveals a conflict of perspectives on how to view human life above all else.
The discussions ask us about real-world issues such as embryo research, abortion, gene editing, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, organ transplantation, and artificial intelligence. “Who is a human being?” “Who determines the value of human life?” These questions prompt us to reflect on how our society has perceived humans and human life.
Bioethics emerged in earnest in the mid-20th century, when life sciences developed and their technologies began to intervene at the beginning and end of human life. In the past, religious and moral traditions played an important role in defining the boundaries and meaning of life, but in modern society, as individual choice and the possibilities of science and technology are given more importance, life is increasingly perceived as an object that can be selected and manipulated, and sometimes as a burdensome reality. In this flow, bioethics ultimately becomes a turning point that takes an entirely different path depending on ‘how one views humans.’
Catholic bioethics presents a perspective that protects the inherent dignity of human life in this confusion. Human beings are holistic beings with soul and body, and their life is a purpose in itself and a dignified being from the moment of conception. This fact is connected to a universal truth and determines our actions on how to protect and respect human life. In other words, universal standards of right and wrong are engraved in human existence. Just as we have a compass in our hearts to know where to go, we have the ability to think deeply and discern good and evil based on those universal standards.
However, as our society increasingly pursues decisions based on social consensus rather than universal truth, it prioritizes the pursuit of profit over the pursuit of truth. This kind of thinking is rooted in modern secular bioethics, represented by utilitarianism and relativism. They view human life as a relative value that can change depending on the situation.
Utilitarianism is a result-oriented thinking and sometimes justifies the sacrifice of one life for the benefit of the majority. Relativism can judge based on principles such as autonomy and justice, but since those principles change priority depending on the exercise of rational ability or the situation rather than the essence of human life, they do not guarantee human life itself. As a result, there is a danger that the boundary between ‘valuable life’ and ‘less valuable life’ is drawn, and life itself becomes an object to be evaluated. This trend is increasingly manifesting itself in “legalizing the decision not to punish acts against life and even legalizing them altogether.”
For Pope John Paul II, bioethics is not a matter of solving scientific and technological problems, but rather a matter of re-examining the meaning of human existence. He emphasized that “we must fully realize that we are faced with a tremendous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life’” and he believes that bioethics should be a place for deep ethical reflection in the face of such clashes.
This is precisely why bioethics is essential to us. All human life, whether embryonic, fetal, elderly, healthy, or sick, has the same dignity. We must bear witness to this viewpoint to the world and become the seed of a culture that protects and respects the mystery of life.
