Bioethics after COVID-19: Should we embrace a political turn?

This chapter examines the field of bioethics and offers a commentary on some recent developments, particularly those that have been given further impetus by the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion concerns the tensions generated when a normative or evaluative discipline is involved in political and policymaking processes, specifically with the provision of advice, guidance and expertise. Questions are raised about the way in which the field can or should engage with the world around it, particularly when questions about justice or, more pertinently, social justice are being brought to the fore. I argue that care should be taken to distinguish between what is an appropriate undertaking for an academic and what others might pursue on the basis of insights generated within the field.