Books do not come about by accident. This is especially the case when a volume grows out of a conference for which the participants wrote the original contributions in different languages. This volume descends from a conference held at the Zentrumjiir interdiszipliniire Forschung, University of Bielefeld, Germany, October 4 through 6, 1990, under the title "Technische Eingriffe in die menschliche Reproduktion: Per spektiven eines moralischen Konsenses". Many with great generosity helped to ensure that the conference was a success and that the papers presented grew into a book. We want in particular to acknowledge our deep gratitude to the Zentrumjiir interdiszipliniire Forschung for spon soring this important conference, and to its director, Peter Weingart, for his important guidance and support. Our thanks are also due to all of the staff ofthe Zentrum. It is they who made the conference successful. We are also grateful to Prof. Hilmar Stolte, head of the Institut jiir System- und Technologieanalysen in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, for making available additional financial support for the conference. Our thanks are also owed to the participants who inspired us to transform a collection of papers into a completed volume. The general trans formation of the original papers required translation. Here we must acknowledge the labors of Sarah L. Kirkby, who rendered many parts of the volume into English. Finally, we want to recognize the invaluable support given by the ecumenical teamwork of Kurt W.

Autorentext
Kurt Bayertz, geboren 1948, lehrt als Professor für praktische Philosophie an der Universität Münster. Arbeitsschwerpunkte: Ethik, angewandte Ethik, Anthropologie und politische Philosophie.

Zusammenfassung
Focusing on the concept of consensus, this text reflects on the difficulties and complexity of moral decision-making, offers views on the problem of why decision-making does not take place more harmoniously and asks if there can be any hope of a solution.

Inhalt
Moral Consensus as a Social and Philosophical Problem.- One / Philosophical Foundations.- Consensus: How Much Can We Hope for? A Conceptual Exploration Illustrated by Recent Debates Regarding the Use of Human Reproductive Technologies.- The Concept of Moral Consensus. Philosophical Reflections.- Consensus Formation for Bioethical Problems (Comments on Bayertz).- Consensus, Pluralism and Procedural Ethics (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt).- New Reproductive Technologies: Ethical Conflict and the Problem of Consensus (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt)..- Two / Consensus In Law And Politics.- Problems Involved in Achieving a Policy Consensus on Issues Related to Reproductive Medicine.- Moral Consensus and the Law (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt).- Coming to Consensus: An Ethical Problem in Law and Politics Illustrated by the Example of Reproductive Technologies (Comments on Bayertz).- The Empirical Limits of Consensus: Can Theory and Practice be Reconciled? (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt, Moreno).- Three / Microinstitutions Of Consensus-Formation.- Consensus by Committee: Philosophical and Social Aspects of Ethics Committees.- Consensus in Ethics and Public Policy: The Deliberations of the U.S. Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel.- Consensus by Default. The Transition from the Social Technology of Eugenics to the Technological-FIX of Human Genetics.- Beyond Consensus About Principles: Decision-Making by a Genetics Advisory Board in Reproductive Medicine (Comments on Bayertz, Moreno).- and that is why I would like as few people to be involved as possible Observations on the Possibilities Offered by Consensus Achievement Within the Field of the Human Reproductive Technologies (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt, Moreno).- A SkepticalPostscript: Some Concluding Reflections on Consensus.- Notes on Contributors.