Copyright

Henk ten Have

Published On

2026-09-14

Language

  • English

Print Length

42 pages

THEMA

  • QDTQ
  • MBDC
  • JHB
  • PDR

BISAC

  • PHI005000
  • MED050000
  • POL029000
  • SCI075000
  • PHI000000

Keywords

  • Bioethics
  • Global crises
  • Resilience
  • Global ethics

3. Covid-19 and Vulnerability

Chapter of: Bioethics in Apocalyptic Times

During the Covid-19 pandemic vulnerability is a crucial notion in daily experiences and practical policies, as is explained in the third chapter. Vulnerability is manifested at different levels: in individual human beings, in particular groups and communities, in healthcare workers, countries, global and national systems. National and international policies were slow to recognize the special vulnerability of specific populations and groups (for example residents of nursing homes), and to take appropriate action. The question is what lessons have been learned from pandemic experiences. Like earlier major plagues, coronavirus disease provoked apocalyptic feelings but also efforts to prevent future catastrophes. This chapter argues that the main lesson is that cooperation is essential to address global vulnerabilities. This is precisely what have been deficient in practice during the recent pandemic, notwithstanding the fact that a global ethical perspective is available to inspire and motivate such cooperation.

Contributors

Henk ten Have

(author)
Emeritus Professor at Duquesne University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3224-7943

Henk ten Have has been Director of the Center for Healthcare Ethics at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, USA (2010–2019). He studied medicine and philosophy in the Netherlands and worked as professor in the Faculty of Medicine of the Universities of Maastricht and Nijmegen. From 2003 until 2010 he has joined UNESCO in Paris as Director of the Division of Ethics of Science and Technology. Since 2019 he is Emeritus Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA, and since 2021 Research Professor at the Faculty of Bioethics in the Universidad Anahuac Mexico. He is editor of the International Journal of Ethics Education, and Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. He currently is President of the International Association for Education in Ethics.His recent book publications are Global Bioethics: An Introduction (2016), Vulnerability: Challenging Bioethics (2016), Global Education in Bioethics (2018), Wounded Planet: How Declining Biodiversity Endangers Health and How Bioethics Can Help (2019), Dictionary of Global Bioethics (with Maria do Céu Patrão Neves, 2021), Bioethics, Healthcare and the Soul (with Renzo Pegoraro, 2022), Bizarre Bioethics: Ghosts, Monsters and Pilgrims (2022), The Covid-19 Pandemic and Global Bioethics (2022). He has edited the Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics (2016) and Global Education in Bioethics (2018). His most recent book is Color, Healthcare and Bioethics (2025), published by OBP and available at https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0443