Abstract
In bioethics, the concept of human vulnerability is commonly used in the context of research in biomedical sciences where research has the potential, not only of producing real and lasting benefits to human society as a whole, but also the potential to harm those participating in the research in a variety of ways. Furthermore, the concept also highlights the frailty of human beings, their susceptibility to a variety of harms and injuries simply by virtue of their being human beings. In this sense the concept acts as a counterpoise to that of autonomy, which emphasizes the individuality of human persons and their capabilities in making their own decisions.
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Notes
- 1.
World Medical Association (1964). Declaration of Helsinki, as amended by the WMA 52nd General Assembly, Edinburgh, Scotland, October 2000. Paragraph 8. Quoted in Macklin (2003).
- 2.
According to Solbakk, the two aspects of human vulnerability, one that emphasizes the vulnerability of humans a whole and one that focus on particular human groups relative to the mainstream one, both appear in the text of the UNESCO Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights as a result of a compromise. However, both aspects are equally important in highlighting the importance of the concept of human vulnerability as a whole as a counterpoise to the dominant paradigm of autonomy (Solbakk 2011).
- 3.
Doriane Lambelet Coleman has outlined what she calls a “prevailing view” which holds that healthy children should be included in research in order to share the burden with non-healthy ones, a position with which she strongly disagrees. See Coleman (2007). The so-called prevailing view, according to Coleman, can be found in Kahn et al. (1998).
- 4.
Atthana-Jataka, about impossible things, from Khuddaka-nikaya, Jataka, Book I. http://84000.org/tipitaka/pitaka_item/v.php?B=27&A=5043&Z=5068. Accessed 6 December 2011.
- 5.
There are many places in the Tipitaka where the Buddha speaks of old age. A passage here is typical: “O monks, what are old age and death. Old age, conditions of old age, loose teeth, white hair, wrinkled skin, decay of age, decay of the organs in the animals—these are called old age.” Vibhanga-Sutta, from Nidana-varga, Samyutta-Nikaya. http://84000.org/tipitaka/pitaka_item/v.php?B=16&A=33&Z=87. Accessed 6 December 2011.
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Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the organizers of the UNESCO Workshop on Human Vulnerability for their generosity in inviting me to the Workshop, as well as the partial support given me by Chulalongkorn University, through a grant in the National Research University Project, grant no. AS569A.
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Hongladarom, S. (2014). Buddhist Perspective on Four Vulnerable Groups: Children, Women, the Elderly and the Disabled. In: Tham, J., Garcia, A., Miranda, G. (eds) Religious Perspectives on Human Vulnerability in Bioethics. Advancing Global Bioethics, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8736-9_11
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