Global Bioethics Collaborative

What is ‘bioethics’?

the process of bringing moral reasoning to bear upon practical ethical issues Fundamentally, the word “bioethics” means the ethics of living things.

Is bioethics multidisciplinary?

Yes, given the working definition above, it is fundamentally multidisciplinary. The figure below may helps place it in relation to philosophy and other disciplines. A modified version of this figure has been published in this manuscript. Karel-Bart Celie, MD As the figure shows, bioethics draws heavily from concepts derived from pure philosophy (e.g., epistemology and ethics) but is not exclusively owned by it.

What is ‘global’ bioethics?

Global bioethics asserts that geographic origin is morally irrelevant, while operating on the presumption that meaningful, collective moral progress can be made. Global bioethics is a middle ground between moral relativism (denies the possibility of collective, objective progress) and moral imperialism (values held by dominant economic and political powers are promoted as universal).

If perspectives are different, how can progress be made?

Think of vectors in physics. The magnitude and direction of each vector results in the overall direction of the “force” in question. Similarly, the emphasis/weight given to certain values by different communities can slightly alter the direction ethics takes us. The animation below illustrates this with vectors for “individual rights” and “community obligations”.