West-Oram, Peter GN, Buyx, Alena and Prainsack, Barbara (2016) Solidarity in bioethics. In: Encyclopedia of life sciences. Wiley.

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Abstract

The concept of solidarity is frequently cited in discussions about distributive justice and what we owe to other people. In addition, solidarity is increasingly the focus of debates in bioethical theory and practice, where it is treated as a concept of fundamental importance, for example in public and global health contexts. Despite the attention that solidarity increasingly receives, however, an exact definition of the term and of its role in bioethics remains elusive. In this paper, we offer an overview of different understandings of solidarity, the history of the concept, and its application to a variety of bioethical issues. We then highlight a definition that we consider particularly fruitful in using solidarity as a guiding principle for policy and practice; in this definition solidarity is understood a commitments to accept costs to support others with whom people recognise relevant similarities.

Item Type:	Book Section
Keywords:	Bioethics; Solidarity; Public Health; Climate Change; Global Health; Pandemic Disease; Public Policy
Schools and Departments:	Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Brighton and Sussex Medical School Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Clinical and Experimental Medicine
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
Related URLs:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/...
Depositing User:	Peter West-Oram
Date Deposited:	16 May 2018 15:44
Last Modified:	04 Jun 2018 08:15
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/75876

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