Roles of Justice in Bioethics

Global capitalism has created the problems of our time. Considerations of justice in bioethics do not solve them. Should they?

Matti Häyry (Author)

9781009108478, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 August 2022

75 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 0.6 cm, 0.14 kg

This Element traces the origins and development of bioethics, the principles and values involved in the discipline, and the roles of justice among these principles and values. The main tasks given to the concept of justice have since the late 1970s been nondiscrimination in research, prioritization in medical practice, and redistribution in healthcare. The Element argues that in a world challenged by planet-wide political and environmental threats this is not sufficient. The nature and meaning of justice has to be rethought. The Element does this by dissecting current bioethical approaches in the light of theories of justice as partly clashing interpretations of equality. The overall findings are twofold. Seen against the background of global concerns, justice in bioethics has become a silent guardian of economic sustainability. Seen against the same background, we should set our aims higher. Justice can, and must, be put to better use than it presently is. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

1. Two Theses and the Order of Things
2. Bioethics as a Practice Arising from Other Practices
3. Bioethics as an Academic Discipline
4. Two Takes on Justice in Bioethics
5. Varieties of Justice
6. Against Capitalism
7. Growth, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development
8. Three Kinds of Economically Sustainable Bioethics
9. The Is, the Should, and the Can
References.

Subject Areas: Bio-ethics [PSAD], Public health & preventive medicine [MBN], Medical ethics & professional conduct [MBDC]