Recalibrating Bioethics for the Reality of Interdependence: The Challenge of Collective-Impact Problems

Bioethics in the twenty-first century is confronting what one might call "collective-impact problems." The ethics guidance and policies that are developed to address these kinds of problems will affect not only individuals but everyone living and future generations too. With many collective-impact problems, all parties will eventually be worse off if there is a failure to develop solutions to head off damage to the shared environment. However, the effects are not felt equally throughout and across societies; some groups are hit far worse. To address collective-impact problems, bioethics needs to recalibrate. Our field, and especially American bioethics, should find a better balance between individual rights and the best interests of the group, develop more robust tools for examining structural inequities that damage people's health and well-being, and study how to engage the public in learning about and shaping ethics guidance for these complex problems.