RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Scaling ethics up and down: moral craft in clinical genetics and in global health research
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP 134
OP 137
DO 10.1136/medethics-2014-102303
VO 41
IS 1
A1 Michael Parker
YR 2015
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/41/1/134.abstract
AB This paper engages with the question of what it is to ‘do good medical ethics’ in two ways. It begins with an exploration of what it might mean to say that health professionals practise good medical ethics as part of practising good ethical medicine. Using the example of the Genethics Club, a well-established national ethics forum for genetics professionals in the UK, the paper develops an account of moral craftsmanship grounded in the concepts of shared moral commitments and practices, moral work, ethics and living morality. In the light of this discussion, the paper goes on to consider what it might mean for a specialist in medical ethics, a bioethicist, to do good medical ethics. Finally, a research agenda focusing on the challenges of thinking about good medical ethics in a global context and a proposal for an innovative approach to bioethics methodology is outlined.