Günter Virt

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Günter Virt (born February 25, 1940 in Vienna ) is an Austrian , Roman Catholic clergyman and professor of moral theology .

Life

After attending the Schottengymnasium in Vienna , Günter Virt first studied pharmacy in 1958 and Catholic theology from 1958 to 1965 at the University of Vienna . During his studies he became a member of the Catholic student association K.Ö.HV Sängerschaft Waltharia Wien in the ÖCV . In 1962 he made a licentiate in philosophy at the University of Innsbruck. In 1965 he was ordained a priest . After pastoral work as a chaplain in the parish of Mödling (1965–1967) and as a student pastor in the Viennese university community (1969–1971), he received his doctorate from the University of Vienna in 1970. theol. PhD .

In 1970 he became an assistant at the Institute for Moral Theology in Vienna and continued his education in psychoanalysis in the Vienna Circle for Depth Psychology. Virt completed his habilitation in 1981 in the department of Catholic theology at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen . In 1981 he received a reputation as a professor of moral theology of Paderborn , in 1983 he moved to Salzburg and 1986 at the University of Vienna as professor of moral theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty. He worked there until his retirement in 2006, his successor was Sigrid Müller , the first woman to hold a moral theology chair.

In 1993 Günter Virt became director of the Senate Institute for Ethics and Law in Medicine, and since 2001 its deputy director. Günter Virt has headed the Institute for Moral Theology at the University of Vienna since 2001. Prof. Dr. Günter Virt is a member of the Bioethics Commission at the Austrian Federal Chancellery and the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies in Brussels.

On the initiative of the Austrian member of the Council of Europe, Edeltraud Gatterer , the so-called EU Recommendation 1418 was drawn up under the direction of Günter Virt . For example, it calls for the protection of life, the increased use of palliative medicine and the expansion of palliative care , as is exemplified by the hospice movement . Nobody should be treated or further treated against their will and the consideration of advance directives should be legally ensured. The recommendation was adopted by the Council of Europe in 1999 with a large majority.

Virt has published numerous publications on biopolitics, biomedicine and the ethical discussion of stem cell research in recent years . In addition, he deals with human dignity in connection with the death penalty, euthanasia , organ trafficking, embryonic stem cell research, the patenting of biologically and genetically engineered inventions based on consuming embryo research, prenatal diagnostics, pre-implantation diagnostics (PGD), the question of Future of the welfare state health systems, implantation medicine and ultimately the debate about the question of the beginning and end of human life.

In June 2010 he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class , by the Federal President for his achievements in ethical research and policy advice .

Fonts

  • Epikie - responsible handling of norms: a historical-systematic study on Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Franz Suarez. Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, Mainz 1983 (Tübingen theological studies; Vol. 21), ISBN 3-7867-1035-X , 299 pp.
  • Establishing morality - proclaiming morality , Innsbruck 1985, ISBN 3-7022-1557-3
  • New Lexicon of Christian Morals , Tyrolia 1990, ISBN 3-7022-1754-1 , together with Hans Rotter
  • Life to the end. On the ethics of dying and death , Innsbruck-Vienna 1998
  • For a right to life of creation , Otto Müller Salzburg 2001, ISBN 3-7013-0735-0 , together with Dolores Bauer
  • Die and Let Die , Tyrolia 2002, ISBN 3-7022-2172-7
  • The globalization process , Herder Freiburg 2002, ISBN 3-451-27930-4
  • So that human existence has a future , Echter Würzburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-429-02906-7

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Virt, Günter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Roman Catholic moral theologian
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna