Intercultural bioethics in the algorithmic age

The article Intercultural Bioethics in the Algorithmic Age constitutes the editorial of the edited volume I curated, entitled Bioethics in a Plural World: Contemporary Challenges in Medical and Technological Ethics. Within this framework, the discussion addresses the diverse questions that emerge when one attempts to examine bioethical issues in societies where pluralism is not merely a theoretical postulate, but rather an everyday condition of life and of institutional organization. India—precisely because it is the cradle of four of the world’s most significant religions, namely Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism (the so-called Dharmic traditions), and because its religious landscape captures with striking clarity the complex coexistence of traditions (indicatively: 79.8% Hindus, 14.2% Muslims, 2.3% Christians, 1.7% Sikhs, 0.7% Buddhists, 0.4% Jains)—thus offers a singular “laboratory” for investigating intercultural bioethics in the algorithmic age. It is argued, accordingly, that the Indian experience can serve paradigmatically in shaping a global intercultural bioethics—one capable of engaging, in a genuinely productive manner, with major traditions and contemporary realities, without sacrificing either normative clarity or cultural justice.