Francesco D'Agostino (9 February 1946 – 3 May 2022) was an Italian jurist, who specialised in

philosophy of law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...

Biography

D'Agostino graduated from the University of Rome in 1968 with a degree in jurisprudence. He continued his legal and philosophical studies at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

and

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

, before obtaining a doctorate in jurisprudence at the

University of Catania The University of Catania () is a university located in Catania, Sicily. Founded in 1434, it is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy, and the 29th oldest in the world. With over 38,000 enrolled students, it is the largest uni ...

. He would hold professorial positions at the

until 1990. He began as professor in 1974 at several Italian universities, namely the

University of Salento The University of Salento (, called until 2007 ''Università degli Studi di Lecce'') is a university located in Lecce, Italy. It was founded in 1955 by Giuseppe Codacci Pisanelli. The university of Salento commenced activities in the academic ye ...

, and

University of Urbino The University of Urbino Carlo Bo (, ''UniUrb'') is an Italian university located in Urbino, in the region of Marche, in north-eastern central Italy. The main campus occupies numerous buildings throughout the historic Urbino town center and the ...

, and was a visiting professor in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, notably in the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

. D'Agostino presided over the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists and was the emeritus president of the National Committee of Bioethics of Italy. He was a member of the

Pontifical Academy for Life The Pontifical Academy for Life or Pontificia Accademia per la Vita is a Pontifical Academy of the Catholic Church dedicated to promoting the Church's consistent life ethic. It also does related research on bioethics and Catholic moral theology. ...

and a consultant for the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

. Since 1988, he had been the head director for the International Magazine of Philosophy of Law and New Politics Studies (''Rivista internazionale di filosofia del diritto'') in Rome. Additionally, he authored more than three hundred publications, including many monographs. D'Agostino was a frequent contributor to prominent bioethics publications, newspapers like

Avvenire (English: "Future") is a daily newspaper which is affiliated with the Catholic Church and is based in Milan, Italy. History and profile was founded in 1968 in Milan through the merger of two Catholic newspapers: of Bologna and of Milan. The ...

and

L'Osservatore Romano ''L'Osservatore Romano'' is the daily newspaper of Vatican City which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not an official publication, a role ...

Personal and legal stances

D'Agostino commented on euthanasia, ostensibly opposing its usage for terminally ill patients. He stated that "the right response to all tragic situations of chronic invalidating diseases and illnesses that inevitably lead to death does not consist in the interruption of treatment (of which euthanasia is an extreme form), but in the therapist's warm and compassionate closeness to the patient". Furthermore, he opposed divorce, and particularly, homosexuality. He argued that homosexuality is "a problem". In 1999, D'Asgostino stated that "homosexual communication cannot have juridical recognition because it is not communication; or better and more precisely, it is not communication in the sense, the only sense, that can have relevance for the law". He characterised any argument for homosexual relationships in equality with those of heterosexual relationships as "''objectively'' groundless", and that this is "all the jurist needs to regard the communicative nature of a homosexual relationship as juridically irrelevant and therefore as incapable of formalization".

Publications

* ''La dignità degli ultimi giorni'', 1998. * * * * ''La bioéthique dans la perspective de la philosophie du droit'', 2005 * ''Introduzione alla biopolitica. Dodici voci fondamentali'', 2009.

Awards

* III Premio Internazionale "Mons. Pompeo Sarnelli" (2006). * Western Prize for Bioethics, Jesi (2009). * Saint Benedict Prize of the Sublacense Foundation.

References

External links

Quelques références bibliographiques en Dialnet
* (Archive; voyez-vous le)

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Agostino, Francesco 1946 births 2022 deaths Italian jurists Bioethicists Academic staff of the University of Rome Tor Vergata People from Rome