ABSTRACT
Van Rensselaer Potter introduces the term global bioethics' to give voice to the need for a broader approach to ethics in relation to health, disease, life and death. To address the problems of humanity, global bioethics advances a moral discourse that emphasizes views and perspectives that differ from mainstream bioethics. This chapter explains why a different discourse is necessary. It elaborates several ethical principles that are crucial in this discourse. The chapter discusses the relationship between ethics and politics. Global bioethics is often blamed for being political rather than ethical. Like neoliberalism, mainstream bioethics has a practical focus: it intends to promote individual well-being. Global bioethics is inspired by the discourse of human rights as well as the moral ideals of cosmopolitanism. That solidarity plays a fundamental role in global bioethics is visible in many ways. Biodiversity and climate change are associated; both are manifestations of a fundamental ecological crisis. Both phenomena necessitate cooperation, common approaches and goals.
