Christoph Rehmann-Sutter is a philosopher and bioethicist. He is holding a professorship for theory and ethics in biosciences at the Institute for History of Medicine and Science Studies at the University of Lübeck in Germany.
Life and professional Career
Christoph Rehmann-Sutter is the son of the sculptor Erwin Rehmann and the teacher Margrit Rehmann. He was raised in Laufenburg and went to school in Laufenburg and Aarau. He received a diploma in molecular biology from the Biocenter at the University of Basel in 1984. This was followed by a second training in philosophy and sociology at the Universities of Basel and Freiburg im Breisgau. His doctoral degree in philosophy he received 1995 from the Technical University of Darmstadt with a book on what biologists ‘do’ when they describe life. Supervisor was Prof. Gernot Böhme. During this time, he worked as a lecturer for environmental philosophy and bioethics in the research group of Werner Arber at the University of Basel. In 1996 he founded the Unit for Ethics in the Biosciences at the University of Basel, in collaboration with the fellow bioethicist . For his work on philosophical foundations of bioethics he received his venia legendi for philosophy at the University of Basel in 2000. During the academic year 1997/1998 he was a research fellow in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley. After that, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Ethics in the Biosciences and Biotechnology at the University of Basel. In 2001, he was elected by the Swiss government president of the , which was a public advisory role for the parliament and the government. He held this office until 2009 when he accepted a professorship for Theory and Ethics in the Biosciences in Lübeck. Guest professorships at:
Prenatal Genetics in Germany and Israel: Meanings and Practices
Research interests
Hermeneutic philosophical approaches to ethics, interdisciplinary and pluriperspective bioethics, with qualitative social research and cultural approaches
Transnational bioethics
Governance in medicine and biotechnologies, ethics committees
Books Genetic Transparency? Ethical and Social Implications of Next Generation Genomics and Genetic Medicine. Gemeinsam mit Malte Dreier und Jeanette Erdmann. Amsterdam: Brill Rodopi 2016, The Patient’s Wish to Die. Research, Ethics, and Palliative Care. Gemeinsam mit Heike Gudat und Kathrin Ohnsorge. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2015, The Human Enhancement Debate and Disability. New Bodies for a Better Life. Gemeinsam mit Miriam Eilers und Katrin Grüber. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2014, Bioethics in Cultural Contexts. Reflections on Methods and Finitude. Gemeinsam mit Marcus Düwell und Dietmar Mieth. Dordrecht: Springer 2006, Genes in Development. Re-reading the molecular paradigm. Gemeinsam mit Eva M. Neumann-Held. Durham: Duke University Press 2006,
