Professor of Ethics Hans Reinders (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) will be leading the discussion of the New Eugenics track. He is intimately familiar with ethical issues surrounding medical, social and policy developments, which include questions about the impact of these developments on the appreciation of living life with a disability, inclusion and participation, and quality of life and healthcare.
His previous extensive work with IASSIDD and with the topic of new eugenics make him a well-suited debate leader who will be able to maintain a clear overview on the presented arguments.
Johannes (Hans) S. Reinders (1950), emeritus Professor of Ethics, received his PhD from VU University Amsterdam. From 1995 till 2016 he served his Alma Mater as Professor of Ethics, and Professor of Disability and Ethics in Long Term Care. He has been a visiting scholar in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and a resident scholar at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton. In 2007 he was the co-founder of the
European Society for the Study of Theology and Disability (ESSTD) and acted as General Editor of the Journal of Disability & Religion from 2010 till 2016.
His main field of academic research has been ethics in long term care. Among his most well-known books are The Future of the Disabled in Liberal Society: An Ethical Analysis (the University of Notre Dame Press, 2000), and Receiving the Gift of Friendship, Profound Disability, Theological Anthropology, and Ethics (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008). He edited a volume called The Paradox of Disability: Responses to Jean Vanier and L ’Arche Communities from Theology and the Sciences (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010). His latest book (in English): Disability, Providence, and Ethics: Bridging Gaps – Transforming Lives, Waco TX.: Baylor University Press, 2014.