Dying a dog's death? Converging and diverging ethical discourses in human and veterinary medicine about the end of life care for humans and pets and some consequences for the relations between medical and animal ethics

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Peter Kunzmann; Dr. Gerald Neitzke
• Subject Area: Practical Philosophy ; Veterinary Medical Science
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 409603981

In research and therapy, human and veterinary medicine are closely interlinked. However, this hardly applies to the ethical discussions about the appropriate use of the available diagnostics, medicines or techniques in human and veterinary medicine. This is surprising, since pets have become so-called "members of the family”. It is furthermore presumed that experiences with sick and dying animals may have an influence on treatment decisions in human medicine (and vice versa).The project investigates the relation of moral and ethical issues in human and veterinary medicine using the example of treatment decisions at the end of life. Firstly, this is examined at the level of descriptive ethics: How does experience in handling moribund pets contribute to therapy decisions for humans? To what extent do moral premises of human medicine turn up again in the treatment of dying animals? Secondly, this is examined at the level of normative ethics: To which principles, goods and values do ethical discourses in animal and human medicine refer in the same way? What may be the difference? Is it fundamental or in detail? To what extent are concepts such as dignity or humanity used metaphorically, analogically, univocally, etc.? Thirdly, this is examined at the level of metaethics: How are the disciplines of medical ethics and animal ethics related? Are they two branches of one single bioethics? Are they two largely independent domains of applied ethics? What does this mean for the understanding of medical or clinical, animal and environmental ethics? The delineation and intermeshing of concepts and contents in animal and medical ethics are exemplarily demonstrated for the end-of-life decisions. Convergent, divergent or time-shifted developments in morality, normative ethics and metaethics are identified. The investigations will contribute to the understanding of different appraisals in the field of morality, clinical ethics counseling, moral philosophy, etc.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants