Dr. Santos presents: “Bioethics and Dignity. Which Human Rights?”

Dr. Lílian Santos, UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights and professor of Bioethics and CatholicTech, recently presented at the International Congress on Bioethics, Human Person, and Dignity, organized by IEST Anáhuac, Mexico, on June 24 and 25.

Dr. Santos’ presentation was titled “Bioethics and Dignity. Which Human Rights?” The presentation began with an overview of the context of human dignity and human rights in today’s socio-political climate, ranging from the right to abortion, animal rights, transhumanism, and the legal validity of same-sex marriages. To introduce the topic more specifically, Santos defined human dignity as “the set of goods,” that conceptualizes “the demands of human dignity and allows the fulfillment of the person.” Further, human dignity is characterized by universality, inherency, unavailability, unconditionality, and indivisibility. 

From this foundation of what human dignity is, Dr. Santos then branched into the different social schematics of what defines human dignity, such as the idea of basic goods or needs, legal rights and duties, and the bio-legal order. The bio-legal order has a hierarchical structure with 5 subdivisions (going from lowest to greatest): regulations, executive decrees, national laws, international deals, and the constitution. This is based upon the principle of normative hierarchy, or that “a lower-ranking rule cannot contradict a higher-ranking rule.” 

Lastly, Dr. Santos looked at the view of human dignity in the Church, noting works of Pope Leo XIII, John XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. From issues that received attention in the French Revolution, to workers’ rights, to dictatorship and war, these documents highlight the need to protect the God-given rights and dignity of the human person. As Pope Saint John Paul II wrote in Pacem in Terris: “In the present age, the common good is considered to consist primarily in the protection of the rights and duties of the human person. Hence the principle mission of men in government must be twofold: on the one hand, to recognize, respect, harmonize, protect and promote these rights; on the other hand, to facilitate the fulfillment of the respective duties of each citizen.” (Pacem in Terris, 60). For more on this, view Dr. Santos’ interactive presentation here! 

The conference took place on June 24 and 25, on the 50th anniversary of the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Tamaulipas (IEST-Anáhuac). Further topics of discussion included bio-legal challenges in today’s society, chronic medicine and disability in light of a personalist view of bioethics, and the challenges of neuroethics. For more details on the conference, read more here.