In the current pandemic crisis, the government needs not just to be led by science but to do ethics in the current pandemic. To do so properly it needs - as other governments throughout the world have recognised - to be advised by those who are competent and skilled in ethical analysis and to do so transparently and publicly.

Professor David Archard is an internationally leading applied moral philosopher who has written extensively and influentially on important issues such as the rights of the child, the nature of the family, sexual consent, privacy, and on key moral ideas of paternalism, autonomy, partiality, expertise, and compromise.

He served for 12 years as a member and latterly deputy chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, is honorary vice-president of the Society for Applied Philosophy, and is chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. He has been a visiting fellow in Australia, the USA, Norway, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and China.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx