[PDF] Bioethics critically reconsidered : having second thoughts Engelhardt, Hugo Tristram

Bioethics developed as an academic and clinical discipline during the later part of the 20th century due to a variety of factors. Crucial to this development was the increased secularization of American culture as well as the dissolution of medicine as a quasi-guild with its own professional ethics. In the context of this moral vacuum, bioethics came into existence. Its raison d’etre was opposition to the alleged paternalism of the medical community and traditional moral frameworks, yet at the same time it set itself up as a source of moral authority with respect to biomedical decision making. Read more…
Abstract: Focusing on the role of social and political ideology in the development of bioethics, this book offers offers a retrospective look at the ideological foundations of the discipline, and a range of perspectives on the current influence of ideology in bioethics. Read more…