To Tell or Not to Tell: How Different Perspectives Shape the Ethics of Honesty and Concealment

Tuesday, 16 June 2026, 3pm to 4.30pm

End-of-life bioethics often presents a seemingly sharp divide between Western emphasis on patient autonomy and truth-telling, and some Asian traditions favoring family-centered concealment to prevent psychological harm.  This talk unpacks the moral complexity behind this apparent dichotomy.  Using the film The Farewell as a case study — where a Chinese-American family conceals a grandmother's terminal cancer diagnosis — I explore how the ethical principle of non-maleficence operates across different cultures.  This talk will also attempt to answer the ethical question: does benevolent concealment, even when motivated by care, constitute a fundamental denial of patient agency?

Speaker(s): Roger Chung

Venue: Big Data Institute - Seminar room 0 - Seminar room 0 Big Data Institute Old Road Campus Oxford Oxfordshire OX3 7LF United Kingdom

Department: Oxford Population Health (OxPop) (Unit)

Host: Ethox Centre

Register here: https://forms.office.com/e/knQPWx3QtD