Bioethics in Chile

Abstract

For quite some time, Latin American bioethicists have defended the idea that regional particularities require a brand of ethics that is attuned to their own social and cultural idiosyncrasies and respectful of the ethnic diversity of their population. A number of historical and social commonalities allow most of the region’s nations to share a bioethical discourse which, in spite of local variations, bears witness to the prevalence of a Latin American brand of what has been called moral acquaintanceship (Wildes 2000). Describing the bioethics scene in one country should help to understand and highlight both their variations and similarities. Applied ethics is especially sensitive to the local circumstances of social practices, and it comes as no surprise that the Sixth World Congress on Bioethics, held in Brasilia in 1999, emphasized “Bioethics, Power and Injustice” as its main theme, considering that social and health care inequities are highly prevalent throughout Latin America.