PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Tovey, P TI - Narrative and knowledge development in medical ethics. AID - 10.1136/jme.24.3.176 DP - 1998 Jun 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 176--181 VI - 24 IP - 3 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/24/3/176.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/24/3/176.full SO - J Med Ethics1998 Jun 01; 24 AB - The role of individual life accounts has been promoted--largely through what has come to be described as narrative ethics-as important to the practice of medical ethics for a number of years. Beyond this the apparent incompatibility of personal stories with scientific procedure has limited their use. In this article I will argue that this represents a serious under-utilisation of a valuable method for researching ethical dilemmas and the settings in which these dilemmas are played out. Life stories need not simply provide a stimulus to scientific research but can in themselves yield intellectually robust evidence on the general as well as the particular. By drawing on the rigorous methods developed elsewhere, personal accounts not only allow us to "enter the world of the sick person" but allow us to do so in such a way as to contribute to empirical and theoretical knowledge.