Discourse on the idea of sustainability: with policy implications for health and welfare reform

Sustainability has become a major goal of domestic and international development. This essay analyzes the transitions of normative ideas embedded in the notion of sustainability by reviewing the discourses in the representative reports and literature from different periods. Three sets of ideas are p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medicine, health care, and philosophy health care, and philosophy, 2020-06, Vol.23 (2), p.155-163
Main Author: Yeh, Ming-Jui
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioethics
Conservation of Natural Resources - economics
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Developed Countries
Education
Ethics
Health Care Reform - economics
Health Care Reform - organization & administration
Health Policy
Humans
Medical Law
Moral Obligations
Philosophy
Philosophy of Biology
Philosophy of Medicine
Policy Making
Politics
Scientific Contribution
Social Welfare
Sustainability
Theory of Medicine/Bioethics
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Summary:Sustainability has become a major goal of domestic and international development. This essay analyzes the transitions of normative ideas embedded in the notion of sustainability by reviewing the discourses in the representative reports and literature from different periods. Three sets of ideas are proposed: inter- and intra-generational equity, stability of public systems, and a sense of solidarity, which confirms the scope of community and functions as a precondition for the previous two ideas. This essay uses the case of a health system in a hypothetical country to illustrate that, besides securing financial sustainability, a genuinely sustainable public system must also meet the three normative ideas of sustainability. This essay also finds that these three ideas may create intrinsic tensions within the prevalent policy-making model—democracy. The pursuit of sustainability is not only the responsibility of a democratic government, but also a shared moral obligation of the body politic.
ISSN:1386-7423
1572-8633
DOI:10.1007/s11019-019-09937-z