Translational ethics

Alan Cribb is one of my favourite medical ethicists, not only because I count him as one of my friends, but primarily because he writes wonderfully nuanced and insightful papers.

In this issue we are pleased to publish a paper by Alan asking whether there is a theory–practice gap in medical ethics, and, if so, how best to bridge it (see page 207). Does medical ethics need a ‘translational ethics’ movement along the lines of the translational medicine movement that tries to bridge the research–therapy gap?

Alan argues that there is a theory–practice gap in medical ethics, but that such a gap is probably inevitable for, as he notes: ‘Doing scholarship is doing something different from policy or practice’. And scholarship and policy-making have different ends, goals and objectives.

We could attempt to bridge this gap through an ‘Enlightenment model’ where medical ethics informs policy-making in different ways, but this model has its …