Program Directory

City Club of Cleveland - Dr. Henk ten Have

City Club of Cleveland

Not only is bioethics necessary to protect us, bioethics enables us to express our identities and share common values. Dr. Henk ten Have will share why he strongly believes in all that bioethics can mean. He will explore the history of bioethics and its resurgence as a global activity and delve into real-life examples of how ethics and the use of principles give direction and clarify problematic situations.

Since 1991, Have has been professor of Medical Ethics and director of the Department of Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine in the University Medical Centre Nijmegen, the Netherlands. In 2003, he joined UNESCO and has been involved in many public debates concerning euthanasia, drug addiction, genetics, choices in health care, and resource allocation. His research has focused on ethical issues in palliative care, and he has been coordinator of the European Commission funded project Palliative Care Ethics.

Have serves on numerous editorial boards, is editor-in-chief of the recently established journal, Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, and is co-founder and secretary of the European Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care. His most recent books include: Palliative care in Europe. Concepts and Policies; Bioethics in a European perspective; The Ethics of Palliative Care. European Perspectives; Ethics and Alzheimer Disease; and Death and medical power. An ethical analysis of Dutch euthanasia practice. With UNESCO he published Environmental Ethics and International Policy and Nanotechnologies, Ethics and Politic.

Have has studied medicine and philosophy at Leiden University, the Netherlands, receiving his medical degree in 1976 and philosophy degree in 1983. He has worked as a practicing physician and as a professor of philosophy.

September 19, 2008