Bioethics, Violence and Inequality: the Biosciences and the Conquest of Biopower

Abstract

Contemporary society is rife with contradictions and paradoxes, among which stand out the relationship between high technology and the worst human situation, poverty. The result of ethical and political choices of this technological era, we experience frontier situations, in which the biosciences play a central role, both in the volume of knowledge generated, as well as in the use of their results which, without social control, broaden inequalities. The objective of this article is to demonstrate the degree to which the biosciences are articulated with the scientific development of the countries that innovate technologies, creating a new relationship of power, which is violent and unequal for those who only consume, denominated biopower. This creates a need for a critical bioethics that is capable of reflecting on the technical procedures, the bases of scientific activity and their applicability and relation with the market, creating the opportunity for a “bridge” in decision making so that science does not become an obstacle to democracy.