Abstract
Bioethics developed quickly since the 1970s in Spain thanks to the work of three pioneers: Francesc Abel, Javier Gafo, and Diego Gracia. They offered new insights and started bioethical research centers. They were also the main forces in introducing bioethics with an international perspective in a rapidly changing Spanish society by adopting a pluralistic and democratic stance.
To understand the tendencies of Spanish bioethics, one has to take into account the following cultural, moral, and political peculiarities: the importance of virtue; rationalism and statutory law; stoicism, naturalism, and legalism; statism and centralism; notions of justice; confessionalism; and conservatism.
Some confrontations have taken place between promoters of a secular pluralistic bioethics and defenders of traditional Catholic positions. There were also tensions between a deontological and legalistic point of view and another perspective that supports a more philosophical, casuistic, and deliberative orientation.
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Sanchez-Gonzalez, M.A., Feito Grande, L. (2014). Spain. In: ten Have, H., Gordijn, B. (eds) Handbook of Global Bioethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2512-6_51
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2512-6_51
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