scholarly journals Constitutionalizing nature’s law: dignity and the regulation of biotechnology in Switzerland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Toomey
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
Natural Order ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Epistemic Humility ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
Religious Theory

Abstract The Swiss Constitution was amended by referendum in 1992 to include two unique provisions: Article 119, which imposes strict limits on genetic and reproductive technologies in humans in order to protect ‘human dignity’, and Article 120, which commits the Swiss federal government to limiting genetic technologies in non-human species on the basis of the ‘dignity of the creature’. This article analyzes the role of ‘dignity’ as a limit on biotechnologies in the Swiss constitutional order. It concludes that the understanding of dignity the constitution embraces codifies a contestable metaphysical theory of value at the constitutional level. Specifically, the Swiss constitutional concept of dignity embraces the normative theory that the natural order is a source of moral value. Because this theory speaks directly to contested questions of the good life, Switzerland’s adoption of it as a constitutional principle is analogous to the adoption of a religious theory in a constitution. The concept of dignity as understood in the Swiss constitutional order is contrary to the commitment to epistemic humility characteristic of liberal constitutions.

14. The European Union

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berthold Rittberger
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines how the European Union acquired distinctive constitution-like features. It begins with a discussion of three routes to constitutionalization: the first is through changes in the EU's primary law; the second focuses on ‘in between’ constitutionalization; and the third leads directly to the European Court of Justice and its jurisprudence. The chapter proceeds by discussing two developments that have shaped the EU constitutional order almost since the beginning: the emergence of a body of EU law constituting a set of higher-order legal rules, and the consolidation of the constitutional principle of representative democracy. It explains how the supremacy and direct effect of EU law, as well as the EU court's concern with the protection of fundamental rights, helped transform the EU into a constitutional polity. It also considers how the extension of the legislative, budgetary, and other powers of the European Parliament animated the constitutional principle.

Normativity and emotional vulnerability

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Bagnoli
Keyword(s):  
Practical Reason ◽  
Moral Agency ◽  
Ethical Behaviour ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Moral Thinking ◽  
Complex Relation ◽  
Emotional Vulnerability ◽  
Theory Of Value

Are the emotions relevant for the theory of value and normativity? Is there a set of morally correct arrangements of emotions? Current debates are often structured as though there were only two theoretical options to approach these questions, a sentimentalist theory of some sort, which emphasizes the role of emotions in forming ethical behaviour and practical thought, and intellectualist rationalism, which denies that emotions can help at all in generating normativity and contributing to moral value, hence also denying that they may have any role to play in moral agency and moral thinking. In what follows, I will offer a Kantian account of ‘practical reason’ as the seat of moral agency, which recognizes a diversified and complex relation between reason and sensibility.

scholarly journals Cloning, mitochondrial replacement and genome editing: 25 years of ethical debate since Dolly

Reproduction ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Greenfield
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Reproductive Cloning ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Ethical Debate ◽  
Human Reproductive ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques

The birth of Dolly the sheep in 1996 elicited a tsunami of commentaries, both in the popular media and academic journals, including responses to the prospect of human reproductive cloning. Much of the anxiety expressed over this imagined consequence of Dolly’s genesis revealed fundamental concerns about our losing our commitments to certain ethical goods, such as human dignity, or even ‘what it means to be human’. Over the last 25 years, the focus of much of the ethical debate over human biotechnology has slowly shifted towards other genetic technologies that aim to influence inheritance, such as mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) and heritable genome editing. Genome editing, in particular, is a technology with multiple fields of application, actual and potential, in research and innovation. In this review, I suggest that many of the fundamental concerns about the possibility of human reproductive cloning that were precipitated by Dolly persist today in the arguments of those who oppose MRT and any use of heritable human genome editing (HHGE). Whilst I do not accept that an understanding of human nature and dignity alone can demonstrate the ethical unacceptability of such assisted reproductive technologies, there are themes of justice, which extend into our relationships with animals, that demand continued wide-ranging examination and public deliberation. Dolly has cast a long shadow over such discussions, but I suggest that the general existential angst over human uses of biotechnology that she came to symbolise is neither compulsory, nor a reliable guide for how to think about biotechnologies today.

Wealth, Commonwealth, and the Constitution of Opportunity

Wealth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Fishkin ◽  
William E. Forbath
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
New Work ◽  
Inequality Of Opportunity ◽  
Political Inequality ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Critical Moments

New work in economics has shown how extreme inequality of wealth makes opportunities more unequal by hardening class lines, restricting access to networks, and giving elites both the means and the incentive to maintain and magnify their own advantages and keep others out. Moreover, we know more clearly than ever how economic and political inequality (and inequality of opportunity) are intertwined. But we have somehow lost the sense that these threats to our democracy of opportunity are threats, as well, to our constitutional order. We tell the story of the democracy of opportunity tradition, exploring how both its proponents and its opponents viewed these constitutional stakes at a series of critical moments of constitutional conflict. We begin our story at the beginning, and then recount how the democracy of opportunity tradition evolved as both our economic life and our constitutional order evolved. We then tell a story of how the democracy of opportunity tradition was forgotten, and how that forgetting colored the revival of the constitutional principle of inclusion in the Civil Rights Revolution. We end by addressing why the democracy of opportunity tradition matters today, and what might be at stake in recovering it.

Law in Ensuring the Safety of Genetic Technologies Against their Use for Criminal Purposes

Lex Russica ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
N. V. Kruchinina
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Human Reproduction ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
Criminal Groups ◽  
Definition Of

Genetic technologies offer wide prospects for socio-economic progress. At the same time, their application in practice could put at stake the interests of society, human rights and freedoms. Therefore, the development of genetic technologies requires its analysis from the standpoint of jurisprudence, thoughtful legislative regulation and protection from uncontrolled spread and criminal use. The paper analyzes different points of view on the use of genetic technologies. The author substantiates the necessity of proper legal regulation and security of the process of development of genetic technologies. The paper contains the results of the scientific research. The paper elucidates the problems related to the use of genetic technologies in the process of artificial human reproduction: imperfection of the legal framework (In particular, lack of the definition of the legal status of human embryo, lack of justification for the legality of its use for research and therapeutic purposes), the threat of the use of genetic technologies for criminal purposes. The author concludes that the use of genetic technologies for criminal purposes is especially dangerous because organized criminal groups focus their attention on genetic technologies. This gives rise to a special criminal situation that requires new approaches for effective counteraction. To this end, the priority is given to identification of crimes committed with the use of genetic technologies and analysis of the emerging practice of investigating this category of crimes. Failure to comply with standards, deviation from regulations and procedures imposed on medical care may result in harm to health or death also when the assisted reproductive technologies are used. The author has made some proposals to solve these problems with due regard to domestic and foreign experience in the use of genetic technologies in the field of human artificial reproduction (in particular, it is proposed to establish effective international cooperation in this area).

Non-ideal theory of constitutional adjudication

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
RONI MANN
Keyword(s):  
Normative Theory ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
The One ◽  
Constitutional Adjudication ◽  
Hard Cases

Abstract:When a constitutional court faces opposition from other branches of government or significant segments of the public, should it always hold fast to what it considers constitutionally right, even where this would potentially harm its status and perceived legitimacy? Or are constitutional compromises sometimes justified? Such ‘institutionally hard’ cases – those characterised by a sharp tension between constitutional principle and institutional prudence – pose a true dilemma for constitutionalism. This article advances a realistic, yet principled, liberal-constitutional approach to this dilemma, put forth in the vein of Rawlsian non-ideal theory. It addresses a troubling gap between, on the one hand, theidealisingdiscourse of constitutional theory – which overlooks or downplays the actual social and political pressures that courts must confront – and, on the other, a growing political science literature which, in the name of ‘realism’, views judges solely as strategic actors, leaving no role for principled reasoning. What has stepped into the gap in normative theory is a vague notion of ‘judicial statesmanship’, which praises or criticises judges post hoc, on an intuitive basis, without any tangible prescriptive bite. Developing evaluative and prescriptive guidelines for institutionally-hard cases, a non-ideal theory of constitutional adjudication should construct principles thatbothreinforce the commitment to ideal constitutional principle,andproperly situate constitutional courts within the real – contingent and often very non-ideal – social and political contexts in which they operate.

scholarly journals PEMENTASAN TARI SANG HYANG LEGONG TOPENG SAKRAL DALAM PIODALAN DI PURA JOGAN AGUNG DESA KETEWEL, KECAMATAN SUKAWATI, KABUPATEN GIANYAR (PERSPEKTIF PENDIDIKAN AGAMA HINDU)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Ida Ayu Made Yuli Rahayuni ◽  
I Nengah Sumantra ◽  
I Made Wirahadi Kusuma
Keyword(s):  
Problem Formulation ◽  
Structural Theory ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Cultural Arts ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
Religious Theory ◽  
Sacred Dance ◽  
The Universe

<p><em>Every human being is aware of the invisible or invisible nature of the world that exists beyond its senses and beyond its boundaries. System of belief in a religion that there is a shadow of people will form the magical world in the villageKetewel who have long had a tradition to perform Dance Sang Hyang Legong Mask Sacral is not staged then all kinds of diseases will attack the people Ketewel.</em></p><p><em>Based on the background of the above problems then can be formulated the problem are: (1) How the history of Dance Sang Hyang Legong Mask Sacral in Piodalan Pura Jogan Agung Ketesi Village, District Sukawati, Gianyar Regency, (2) What is the function of Dance Sang Hyang Legong Topeng Sakral in Piodalan in Pura Jogan AgungDesaKetewel, Sukawati Sub-district, Gianyar Regency, (3) What are the values of education contained in Sang Hyang Legong Dance Sacred Mask Dance in Piodalan in Pura Jogan Agung Ketesi Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency? Based on the formulation of the above problems, the research objectives are: (1) to know the history of Dance Sang Hyang Legong Topeng Sakral in Piodalan Pura Jogan AgungDesaKetewel, District Sukawati, Gianyar Regency, (2) to know the function of Dance Sang Hyang Legong Topeng Sacred in Piodalan in Pura Jogan AgungDesaKetewel, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency, (3) to know the values of education contained in the Dance Sang Hyang Legong Mask Sacral in Piodalan Pura Jogan Agung Ketewel Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency.The theories used to analyze the problem formulation are: Religious theory of Koentjaraningrat, the functional structural theory of Artadi, the theory of value of Good. The methods used to collect data are observation, interview, literature, and documentation.</em></p><p><em>The results of this study show that: (1) History of Dance Sang Hyang Legong Topeng Sacred Dance in Piodalan in Pura Jogan Agung Ketesi Village, District Sukawati, Gianyar Regency of Sang Hyang Legong Topeng Sakral originated from King Kediri get pawisik from Ida Sang Hyang Pasupati bersthana on Mount Semeru. Sang Hyang Legong Mask Sakral is performed only at the ceremony of both pujawali pretend and piodalan in Ketewel village houses. (2) The function of Dance Sang Hyang Legong Topeng Sacred Dance in Piodalan in Pura Jogan Agung Ketesi Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency is the neutralizing of the universe, the means of bhakti to Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa and the preservation of Balinese cultural arts. (3) The value of education which is contained in Dance Sang Hyang Legong Topeng Sacred Dance in Piodalan in Pura Jogan Agung Ketesi Village, District Sukawati, Gianyar Regency is the value of divinity, atmanastuti value, aesthetic value, yadnya value / ceremony.</em></p>

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