Abstract

The term ›Bioethik‹ was fi rst used by Fritz Jahr 1926 in introducing the ›Bioethical Imperative: Respect every living being in general as an end in itself andtreat it, if possible, as such!‹. The term was ›reinvented‹ 1970 by Van Rensselaer Potter in an article ›Bioethics: The Science of Survival‹ calling for knowledge ofhow to use knowledge’, then again 1971 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, when the ›Kennedy Institute of Bioethics‹; a rare ›three-located birth‹of a term. The Kennedy Institute’s focus on medical ethics led to a quasi synonymous use of ›bioethics‹ and ›medical ethics‹. Recent conceptual and terminological developments suggest to use ›bioethics‹ as a comprehensive term, which includes social, cultural, environmental, medical and other fi elds of applied ethics.