Spain

Abstract

Bioethics developed quickly since the 1970s in Spain thanks to the work of three pioneers: Francesc Abel, Javier Gafo, and Diego Gracia. They offered new insights and started bioethical research centers. They were also the main forces in introducing bioethics with an international perspective in a rapidly changing Spanish society by adopting a pluralistic and democratic stance. To understand the tendencies of Spanish bioethics, one has to take into account the following cultural, moral, and political peculiarities: the importance of virtue; rationalism and statutory law; stoicism, naturalism, and legalism; statism and centralism; notions of justice; confessionalism; and conservatism. Some confrontations have taken place between promoters of a secular pluralistic bioethics and defenders of traditional Catholic positions. There were also tensions between a deontological and legalistic point of view and another perspective that supports a more philosophical, casuistic, and deliberative orientation.