Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PART I AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART II A CHRONOLOGY OF MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART III DISCOURSES OF MEDICAL ETHICS THROUGH THE LIFE CYCLE
- PART IV THE DISCOURSES OF RELIGION ON MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART V THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOSOPHY ON MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART VI THE DISCOURSES OF PRACTITIONERS ON MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART VII THE DISCOURSES OF BIOETHICS
- 38 The Discourses of Bioethics in the United States
- 39 The Discourses of Bioethics in the United Kingdom
- 40 The Discourses of Bioethics in Western Europe
- 41 The Discourses of Bioethics in Post-Communist Eastern Europe
- 42 The Discourses of Bioethics in Latin America
- 43 The Discourses of Bioethics in East Asia
- 44 The Discourses of Bioethics in South Asia
- 45 The Discourses of Bioethics in Sub-Saharan Africa
- PART VIII DISCOURSES ON MEDICAL ETHICS AND SOCIETY
- Appendix: Biographies: Who Was Who in the History of Medical Ethics
- Bibliography
- Index
42 - The Discourses of Bioethics in Latin America
from PART VII - THE DISCOURSES OF BIOETHICS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2012
- Frontmatter
- PART I AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART II A CHRONOLOGY OF MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART III DISCOURSES OF MEDICAL ETHICS THROUGH THE LIFE CYCLE
- PART IV THE DISCOURSES OF RELIGION ON MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART V THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOSOPHY ON MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART VI THE DISCOURSES OF PRACTITIONERS ON MEDICAL ETHICS
- PART VII THE DISCOURSES OF BIOETHICS
- 38 The Discourses of Bioethics in the United States
- 39 The Discourses of Bioethics in the United Kingdom
- 40 The Discourses of Bioethics in Western Europe
- 41 The Discourses of Bioethics in Post-Communist Eastern Europe
- 42 The Discourses of Bioethics in Latin America
- 43 The Discourses of Bioethics in East Asia
- 44 The Discourses of Bioethics in South Asia
- 45 The Discourses of Bioethics in Sub-Saharan Africa
- PART VIII DISCOURSES ON MEDICAL ETHICS AND SOCIETY
- Appendix: Biographies: Who Was Who in the History of Medical Ethics
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Bioethics was born in the United States (see Chapter 38) and with time adopted (and adapted) by other countries. Among the countries accepting bioethics were those in Latin America, the name given to a linguistic and cultural community encompassing South America, Central America, Mexico, and part of the Caribbean. Because bioethics is a discipline whose discourse flourished in a North American cultural tradition, it is natural to compare Latin American and North American biomedical ethics. Latin American bioethics has evolved over a period of 30 years, in three decade-long stages, commencing in the 1970s, reception, assimilation, and re-creation. As a pioneer of the process by which bioethics was institutionalized in Argentina, I cannot avoid some personal reference to my own experience, as a testifying witness (Mainetti 1987, 1990, 1995, 1996). Such an autobiographical narrative about the emergence of bioethics in Latin America can be justified by the comment of a well-known American bioethicist who said: “Identifying the origin of bioethics in the United States is a matter of some considerable controversy. But the Latin American bioethics story is to a large degree the story of one man” (Drane 1996).
RECEPTION OF BIOETHICS IN THE 1970S
The 1970s were the reception stage for bioethics in Latin America. “Reception” should not be understood as a formal introduction of the discipline because in the 1970s the term “bioethics” was not in current usage, even in the United States.
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- The Cambridge World History of Medical Ethics , pp. 501 - 504Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008