BIH621: Global Bioethics

The module Global Bioethics aims to introduce students to the problematic of a global bioethics. Since there is no common agreement on what is meant by 'global bioethics', the various concepts and meanings attributed to this term are first presented. According to the prevailing view, global bioethics is understood as a worldwide bioethics that follows common moral principles and values, with the aim of a joint ethical evaluation of bioethical issues and subsequently of the political settlement of the ways in which they are applied. This is currently considered necessary for three main reasons. First, because bioethical concerns are common, have a global character and their implications affect all of humanity. Second, because it is required by the needs of contemporary globalised society and markets, since these issues are not easily addressed at the local level. Medical tourism, the trade in organs, the threat of bioterrorism, and clinical trials conducted by multinational pharmaceutical companies in developing countries are contemporary phenomena which demonstrate that a supranational and, if possible, global-level response is required. Third, because major problems such as hunger, malnutrition, pandemics and climate change, which also fall within the purview of bioethics, are effectively addressed only through long-term strategies and the cooperation of all. The central question that relates to any discussion of a global bioethics is whether it is feasible and applicable or whether it constitutes a utopia, given that the contemporary world is characterised by moral diversity grounded in various religious beliefs, philosophical conceptions and cultural traditions.