Bio-ethics for a whole planet

Abstract

The challenging questions of today’s bioethics are best addressed from a global perspective. The ways in which humans become ill and are cared for transcend the typical boundaries of nation states. Pathogens that threaten humanity may travel worldwide at jet speed. Public health measures and medical interventions are increasingly in need of global coordination. This chapter considers the prospects for seeking common ground for bioethics for all humanity and the rest of life with which we share the planet. Using a contractarian model of ethics as a heuristic framework, the case for global bioethics is set forth. Then, consideration is given to recent efforts to develop international principles for bioethics and to the role of the world’s religions in this process. The generation of widely shared ethical norms for human biology and medicine may benefit from the insights of religious traditions at their best.