Browsing by Author "Hens, Kristien"

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Open Access
Bioethics: A Coursebook
(Open Book Publishers, 2025-05-12) Collective, COMPOST; Moormann, Emma; Hens, Kristien; Buyst, Nele; Devos, Ina; Kenis, Daan; Meinen, Lisanne; Mertens, Mayli; Ratajczyk, Yanni; Vulliermet, Franlu; Stadlbauer, Christina; Vandeput, Bartaku; Paleri, Varsha Aravind; Villafuerte, Ilya Gordon; Struyf, Joke
This coursebook offers an expansive exploration of bioethics, an interdisciplinary field examining ethical, social, and legal dilemmas in medicine, life sciences, and beyond. It challenges conventional boundaries, embracing Van Rensselaer Potter’s vision of bioethics as a global, holistic ethics of life—integrating human health, environmental considerations, and transdisciplinary insights. Through engaging discussions, thought experiments, and case studies, the book empowers students to critically reflect on ethical questions without dictating rigid answers. Topics range from the historical roots of ethical thought to cutting-edge debates in molecular biology, such as epigenetics and exposomics, demonstrating how interconnected human, animal, and environmental health truly are. Central themes include the limits of scientific knowledge, the biases shaping research, and the evolving interplay between moral philosophy and empirical science. Students will encounter key philosophical frameworks—ontology, epistemology, and ethics—woven into practical bioethical applications. Feminist philosophy, experimental bioethics, and embedded ethics enrich this perspective, urging readers to question assumptions, embrace diverse viewpoints, and connect ethical principles with real-world science. Targeted at students in philosophy, biology, biomedical sciences, and bioengineering, this book is a toolkit for future thinkers, fostering a nuanced understanding of how ethical science advances humanity in a complex, ever-changing world.
Open Access
Chance Encounters: A Bioethics for a Damaged Planet
(Open Book Publishers, 2022-12-09) Hens, Kristien
In this rigorous and necessary book, Kristien Hens brings together bioethics and the philosophy of biology to argue that it is ethically necessary for scientific research to include a place for the philosopher. As well as ethical, their role is conceptual: they can improve the quality and coherence of scientific research by ensuring that particular concepts are used consistently and thoughtfully across interdisciplinary projects. Hens argues that chance and uncertainty play a central part in bioethics, but that these qualities can be in tension with the attempt to establish a given theory as scientific knowledge: in describing organisms and practices, in a sense we create the world. Hens contends that this is necessarily an ethical activity. Examining genetic research, biomedical ethics, autism research and the concept of risk, Hens illustrates that there is no ‘universal’ or ‘neutral’ state of scientific and clinical knowledge, and that attending to the situatedness of individual experience is essential to understand the world around us, to know its (and our) limitations, and to forge an ethical future. Chance Encounters is aimed at a broad audience of researchers in bioethics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, as well as biomedical and environmental scientists. It will also be relevant to policymakers, and the artwork by Christina Stadlbauer and Bartaku will be of interest to artists and writers working at the intersection of art and science.
Open Access
Toevallige ontmoetingen: Bio-ethiek voor een gehavende planeet
(Open Book Publishers, 2023-09-18) Hens, Kristien
In dit rigoureuze en noodzakelijke boek brengt Kristien Hens bio-ethiek en filosofie van de biologie bij elkaar, met het argument dat het ethisch noodzakelijk is om in het wetenschappelijk onderzoek een plaatsje vrij te houden voor de filosofen. Hun rol is behalve ethisch ook conceptueel: zij kunnen de kwaliteit en de coherentie van het wetenschappelijk onderzoek verbeteren door erop toe te zien dat specifieke concepten op een consistente en doordachte manier worden gebruik binnen interdisciplinaire projecten. Hens argumenteert dat toeval en onzekerheid een centrale rol spelen in de bio-ethiek, maar dat die in een spanningsrelatie kunnen raken met de pogingen om bepaalde theorieën ingang te doen vinden als wetenschappelijke kennis: bij het beschrijven van organismen en praktijken creëren we op een bepaalde manier de wereld. Hens stelt dat dit noodzakelijk een ethische activiteit betreft. Doorheen de verkenning van genetisch onderzoek, biomedische ethiek, autismeonderzoek en het concept ‘risico’ toont Hens aan dat er niet zoiets bestaat als ‘universeel’ of ‘neutraal’ wetenschappelijk of klinisch weten. Integendeel, uitgaan van de gesitueerdheid van individuele ervaringen is essentieel om de wereld rondom ons te begrijpen, om er de beperkingen van in te zien (en die van onszelf) en om een ethische toekomst vorm te geven. Toevallige ontmoetingen is gericht op een breed publiek van geïnteresseerden in bio-ethiek, filosofie, antropologie en sociologie, en op onderzoekers in biomedische en milieuwetenschappen. Daarnaast is het ook relevant voor beleidsmakers. De artistieke bijdrage van Christina Stadlbauer en Bartaku zal inspirerend zijn voor kunstenaars en schrijvers die zich op het snijvlak bewegen van kunst en wetenschappen.
Open Access
Towards an Ethics of Autism: A Philosophical Exploration
(Open Book Publishers, 2021-07-07) Hens, Kristien
What does it mean to say that someone is autistic? Dynamics of Autism is an exploration of this question and many more. In this thoughtful, wide-ranging book, Kristien Hens examines a number of perspectives on autism, including psychiatric, biological, and philosophical, to consider different ways of thinking about autism, as well as its meanings to those who experience it, those who diagnose it, and those who research it. Hens delves into the history of autism and its roots in the work of Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger to inform a contemporary ethical analysis of the models we use to understand autism today. She explores the various impacts of a diagnosis on autistic people and their families, the relevance of disability studies, the need to include autistic people fully in discussions about (and research on) autism, and the significance of epigenetics to future work on autism. Hens weaves together a variety of perspectives that guide the reader in their own ethical reflections about autism. Rich, accessible, and multi-layered, this essential reading for for philosophers, educational scientists, and psychologists who are interested in philosophical-ethical questions related to autism, but it also has much to offer to teachers, allied health professionals, and autistic people themselves.