| The ethical issues raised by the medical applications of recombinant DNA technology provide a broad case study that extends beyond those issues traditionally considered under medical ethics to include issues of a broader social scale. The issues range from concern about patient autonomy and human experimentation to issues of common good, preferential option for the poor, and private property.; This dissertation first considers the Roman Catholic traditions of medical and social ethics as sources of moral insight. The second task is to reconsider these branches of moral theology in light of the broader theological tradition and theological anthropology in order to provide a basis for a more internally consistent and persuasive ethic. Claus Westermann's commentary on Genesis 1-11 and Karl Rahner's theology are given special consideration.; This renewed anthropology directs the development of a revised principle of totality which incorporates a fuller personal and social understanding of the person. This principle functions as an organizing principle that links a range of moral principles and themes that have been separated in the past by distinctions of personal and social ethics. The principle is then applied to a case study--a preliminary proposal for human gene therapy that is before the r-DNA Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health.; The general conclusion is that particular cases and issues can no longer be considered in isolation, as if their disposition does not impact the broader community or as if there are no salient claims to be considered beyond the very limited parameters of the case as traditionally defined. There can no longer be a separation of personal and social ethics, of private and public action. The specific conclusion regarding the case of somatic cell gene therapy is while the project is reasonable and commendable in itself, it is, however, morally unacceptable and inappropriate in the present context of health care in the United States. |
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