About the urgency of global bioethics

Abstract

Global bioethics was conceived in the 1970s by Van R. Potter as an interdisciplinary field linking biological sciences, social sciences and humanities. Its objective was to extend the ethical reflection to comprehend the relationships that human beings establish with the rest of the living systems. More than 40 years after its appearance, several authors consider that it is indispensable to rescue global bioethics as an alternative to face the contemporary ecological-social crisis, linking it to the discourses of sustainability and human rights; this essay adds to the voices of these authors. Therefore, it presents a brief history of bioethics, followed by a discussion concerning its conceptual definition, and the opinion of contemporary authors who support the resurgence of the potterian vision of bioethics. In conclusion, we present some reflections on the importance of linking bioethics with education.

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