Forthcoming

6. March 2012

Fischer, Nils: Islamische Positionen zum pränatalen Leben. Freiburg, München: Alber, 2012 (Ethik in den Biowissenschaften – Sachstandsberichte des DRZE, 14).

                N. Fischer, Islamische Positionen zum pränatalen Leben (Cover)



Summary: This study gives an overview of the historical, systematic and recent aspects of prenatal human life in Islam. It describes, analyses and discusses the religious sources and positions in classical Islamic law and their natural philosophical basis as well as the answers of contemporary Islamic religious scholars and Muslim scientists to the challenging questions in reproductive medicine and the life sciences. Finally it presents the legal situation in selected Islamic states described the cultural and historical context of the Middle East. It deals with several singular themes, e. g. termination of pregnancy, contraception, population control, in-vitro-fertilisation and research in human embroys. It also contains excursions on the concept of science and the terminology used in the Islamic discourse.
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New on the web

29. February 2012

Rose, Christina / Fischer, Nils: “Managing cultural diversity in medical care.” In: International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) (ed.): 18th IFAC World Congress, August 28–September 2, 2011, Milan. 18 vols. Red Hook, NY : Curran, 2011: Vol. 4, 4028–4033.

Summary: Times of “globalization” bring with themselves a considerably high amount of migration – a fact which, again, causes an increasing degree of such cultural diversity. Since literally every individual in his or her life is likely to somehow depend upon medical care, the challenge of cultural diversity and intercultural understanding in this context is a substantial issue when talking about international stability at the individual and societal level. Focusing especially on the interpersonal relationship and the face-to-face dialogue between physician and patient, this paper provides means for improving mutual understanding and patients’ compliance. It is based upon the methodological-hermeneutical concept of Intercultural Philosophy. From this point of view, e.g. a robot can never adequately care for a patient, because for convalescence it is also crucial to care about emotional, social and psychological constitution. In the tradition of the IFAC Committee Social Impact of Automation the paper goes beyond the wide use of technology in medicine today. It, thus, offers a starting point for a constructive interdisciplinary discourse between philosophy, medical ethics and the engineering community about whether technology-based medical treatment is a barrier to ethical behavior and a threat to stability – especially in intercultural settings. HTML Link (external)

Intercultural and interreligious aspects in medical care

29. February 2012

Intercultural and interreligious aspects in medical care



The process of globalisation set in motion migrational movements which cause an increasing degree of cultural diversity in the world and especially in the so-called Western countries. This is reflected in the whole of society but particularly in medical care, as there is required a high degree of cross-cultural understanding in dealing with different patients. However, a good dialogue between doctor and patient, not only contributes to a better mutual understanding but perhaps to better diagnosis and better complience of the patient. A constructive interdisciplinary discourse between philosophy, medicine, economics, engineering and nursing has to deal with the question of how ethical considerations in dealing with patients can be adequately addressed. Therefore it must also develop concepts for the management of complex cross-cultural situations.

Publication

Rose, Christina / Fischer, Nils: “Managing cultural diversity in medical care.” In: International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) (ed.): 18th IFAC World Congress, August 28–September 2, 2011, Milan. 18 vols. Red Hook, NY : Curran, 2011: Vol. 4, 4028–4033. HTML Link (external)