Ethos and Bioethics of the Anatomist Niels Stensen

Abstract

The term bioethics was introduced to the scientific debate – initially in the USA – in 1970/1971 by the freethinking American biochemist and professor of oncology Dr. phil. Van Rensselaer Potter (1911–2001) in his essay Bioethics: the Science of Survival (1970) and his book Bioethics: Bridge to the Future (Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1971). Potter’s evolutionistic concept, employing the key phrases ‘man’s survival’ and ‘improvement in the quality of life’, is part of a secularization process taking place at this time. Owing to the author’s mechanistic view of man, it exhibits considerable shortcomings from a philosophical as well as from a theological perspective, including a number of grave misconclusions. By citing 1 Thess 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good”, however – intending it to be applied to ethical traditions in bioethics – Potter, who apparently possessed some knowledge of biblical texts, provides his readers with an apt key phrase for criticism of his own book.