Menschenrechte und Menschenwürde. Eine Studie zu ihrem Verhältnis im deutsch-britischen Vergleich, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der ethischen und rechtlichen Probleme am Lebensbeginn

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Sibylle Rolf
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: from 2007 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 41775586

My study tries to examine the relation of human rights to human dignity in the German and British discussion: Is human dignity the foundation of human rights, or do human rights guarantee the worth of human dignity, so that human dignity is an aspect of human rights? To investigate the question, I plan to focus on ethical and legal problems at the beginning of human life - e.g. PGD, stem cell research, cloning etc. One of the decisive questions in this context will be when human life begins, especially the question if a very young embryo before the fourteenth day after fertilisation is a human being or not. To find an adequate answer, different philosophical, ethical, theological und juridical positions will be discussed and compared. The aim of the study is to figure out whether the term "human dignity" could be helpful in the contemporary international complex bioethical discussion, in which ground it is rooted and which implications there are for the public debate on bioethical issues. Currently, when people feel insecure about important bioethical political decisions, it seems to be necessary to discuss the problems in an international context to help each other to find to an own, reflected position. I am firmly convinced that theological ethics play an important role for the debate, and an interdisciplinary and international network would be decisive for the problems we have to face in the 21st century.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Dr. Robert Song