RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 A plea for a touch of realism: reply to P Whitaker JF Journal of Medical Ethics JO J Med Ethics FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics SP 134 OP 135 DO 10.1136/jme.16.3.134 VO 16 IS 3 A1 Lamb, David YR 1990 UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/16/3/134.abstract AB This reply to P Whitaker's `Resource allocation: a plea for a touch of realism' acknowledges that health-care ethics should be relevant to events in the real world, but questions the extent to which philosophical inquiry should be confined to parameters determined by existing sociopolitical forces. The reading of the daily paper is the morning prayer of the realist.