Personalism and Medical Ethics. An Open-Minded Perspective inside the Roman Catholic Community

Church-ethical statements in the context of contemporary medicine often give rise to a lot of controversy and commotion. Just think of the debates about medically assisted reproduction, genetics, prenatal diagnosis, stem cell research, organ donation, palliative sedation or euthanasia.

Paul Schotsmans notes that many of these statements are inspired by a well-defined ethical model, specifically the act-deontological model. He argues that a more dynamic ethical model (personalism based on Western-European value-systems) creates space for a humane integration of the new medical possibilities.

With this book, he seeks to indicate how Christian faith can be an inspiration for an open-minded, humane and dynamic health care.

Paul Schotsmans is a priest of the Archdiocese Mechelen-Brussels. He is an emeritus professor of medical ethics at the Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven. He was the President of the European Association of Centers of Medical Ethics, the (Co-)President of the Belgian Advisory Committee on Bioethics, a Board Member of the International Association of Bioethics, and a Board Member of Eurotransplant. Furthermore, he served as an ethics advisor for many hospitals and health care organizations.

ISBN: 9789463714303