Skip to main content

Only Connect: Luhmann and Bioethics

  • Chapter
Luhmann Observed
  • 267 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter is a Luhmannian reading of some early ethical writings about ‘saviour siblings’; that is, where children with serious medical disorders are treated by tissue transplanted from a sibling, where the embryo-that-becomes-the-sibling has been genetically screened and selected before implantation to ensure that it is a donor-compatible tissue match. It is the first, and so far the only, instance of the ‘screening in’ of desirable genetic characteristics allowed within the UK regulatory framework.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Bibliography

  • Althusser, L. (2001) Lenin and Philosophy, and Other Essays, trans. B. Brewster. (New York: Monthly Review Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Baetens, P. (2005) ‘HLA-matched embryos selected for siblings requiring haematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a psychological perspective’, Reproductive Biomedicine Online, 10(2), 154–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, R. & J. Savulescu (2001) ‘Ethics of using pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to select a stem cell donor for an existing person’, British Medical Journal, 323, 1240–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dallman, H-U. (1998) ‘Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory as a challenge for ethics’, EthicalTheory and Moral Practice, 1(1), 85–102 [Accessed 14 July 2009].

    Google Scholar 

  • Editorial (2001) ‘Preimplantation donor selection’, The Lancet 358 (9289), 1195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrard, E. & S. Wilkinson (2005) ‘Mind the gap: the use of empirical evidence in bioethics’, in M. Hayry, T. Takala and P. Herissone-Kelly (eds.) Bioethics and Social Reality (Amsterdam: Rodopi).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavaghan, C. (2007) Defending the Genetic Supermarket, (Abingdon: Routledge — Cavendish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (2003) The Future of Human Nature, trans. W. Rehg, M.Pensksy and H. Beister (Cambridge: Polity).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedgecoe, A. (2004) The Politics of Personalised Medicine. (Cambridge: CUP).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jasanoff, S. (2005) Designs on Nature: Science and Democracy in Europe and the United States (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1991) ‘Paradigm Lost: On the Ethical Reflection of Morality’, Thesis Eleven, 29, pp.82–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1993a) ‘The Code of the Moral’, Cardozo Law Review 14, 995–1009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1993b) Risk: A Sociological Theory, trans. R.Barrett (New York: Aldine de Gruyter).

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1994) ‘Politicians, Honesty and the Higher Amorality of Politics’, Theory, Culture & Society, 11, 25–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1995) Social Systems, trans. J. Bednarz, Jr (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1996) ‘The Sociology of the Moral and Ethics’, International Sociology 11(1), 27–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (2004) Law as a Social System, F. Kastner, R. Nobles, D. Schiff & R. Ziegert (eds.), trans. K Ziegert (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moeller, H-G. (2006) Luhmann Explained: From Souls to Systems (Chicago & La Salle, Illinois: Open Court).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennings, G. (2004) ‘Saviour Siblings: Using Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis for Tissue Typing’, International Congress Series, 1266, 311–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennings, G., R. Schots, and I. Liebaers (2002) ‘Ethical Considerations on Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis for HLA Typing to Match a Future Child as a Donor of Haematopoietic Stem Cells to a Sibling’, Human Reproduction, 17(3), 543–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pottage, A. (1998) ‘Power as an Art of Contingency: Luhmann, Deleuze, Foucault’, Economy & Society, 27(1), 1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ram, N.R. (2006) ‘Britain’s New Pre-implantation Tissue-typing Policy: An Ethical Defence’, Journal of Medical Ethics, 32, 278–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasch, W. (1995) ‘Immanent Systems, Transcendental Temptations and the Limits of Ethics’, Cultural Critique, 30 (Pt I, Spring), pp.193–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, J.A, J.P. Kahn, and J.E. Wagner (2002) ‘Conception to Obtain Hematopoietic Stem Cells’, The Hastings Center Report, 32(3), 34–40, < http://www.jstor.org/stable/3528112> accessed 26 June 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spriggs, M. and J. Savulescu (2002) ‘Saviour Siblings’, Journal of Medical Ethics, 28, 289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, S., J.P. Kahn, and J.E. Wagner (2003) ‘Using Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis to Create a Stem Cell Donor: Issues, Guidelines and Limits’, Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 31(3), 327–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zizek, S. (2003) ‘Bring Me My Philip’s Mental Jacket’, London Review of Books, 25(10), 22 May 2003.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2013 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Persaud, S. (2013). Only Connect: Luhmann and Bioethics. In: la Cour, A., Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, A. (eds) Luhmann Observed. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137015297_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics