Abstract
In the United States, disturbing concerns pertaining to both how putative bioethicists are perceived and the potential for the abuse of their power in connection with these perceptions compel close examination. This paper addresses these caveats by examining two fundamental and interrelated components in the image-construction of the ethicist: definitional and contextual. Definitional features reveal that perceptions and images of the ethicist are especially subject to distortion due to a lack of clarity as to the nature and qualifications of the ethicist. Furthermore, the clinical, professional, political, academic, and linguistic contexts in which these ethicists are engaged are contexts of disquieting degrees of power. I argue that the lack of definitional clarity as to what constitutes an ethicist combined with the above volatile contexts together set the stage for the abuse of power on the part of ethicists. Throughout, I question the extent of self-critical analyses among ethicists, and, in view of these components in image-construction and their relationship to power, I challenge the degree of integrity within the field. In conclusion, I propose some areas for further investigation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References and notes
Pence, G. E. (1995, 1990).Classic Cases in Medical Ethics, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Potter, V. R. (1970). Bioethics: The science of survival.Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 14, 120–153.
Callahan, D. (1973). Bioethics as a discipline.Hastings Center Studies 1(1), 68.
Brody, B. A. (1990). Quality of scholarship in bioethics.The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15(2), 161–178.
Clouser, K. D. (1978). Bioethics. In,Encyclopedia of Bioethics Vol. 1, ed. by W. Reich, The Free Press, New York.
Callahan, D. (1995). Bioethics. In,Encyclopedia of Bioethics, revised edition, ed. by W. T. Reich, Simon and Schuster Macmillan, New York.
Reichlin, M. (1994). Observations on the epistemological status of bioethics.The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 19(1), 79–102.
I credit a reviewer who kindly brought the former point to my attention. For the latter, see Beauchamp, T. L. and Childress, J. (1994).Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 4th edition, Oxford University Press, New York.
Maclean, A. (1993).The Elimination of Morality: Reflections on Utilitarianism and Bioethics, Routledge, London and New York.
Rothman, D. (1991).Strangers at the Bedside, Basic Books, New York.
Schüklenk, U., Mertz, D. and Richters, J. (1995). The bioethics tabloids: how professional ethicists have fallen for the myth of tertiary transmitted heterosexual AIDS.Health Care Analysis 3(1), 27–36.
MacIntyre, A. (1984).After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 2nd edition, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Holmes, R. L. (1990). The limited relevance of analytical ethics to the problems of bioethics.The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15(2), 148–149.
Green, R. M. (1990). Method in bioethics: a troubled assessment.The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15(2), 186–187.
Clouser, K. D. and Gert, B. (1990). A critique of principlism.The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15(2), 219.
Gowans, C. W. (1987). The debate on moral dilemmas. In,Moral Dilemmas, ed. by C. W. Gowans, Oxford University Press, New York.
Kant, I. (1971). Introduction to the metaphysic of morals, fromThe Doctrine of Virtue: Part II of the Metaphysic of Morals, trans. by Mary J. Gregory, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia; cited inMoral Dilemmas (1987) ed. by C. W. Gowans, Oxford University Press, New York.
Marcus, R. B. (1987). Moral dilemmas and consistency. In,Moral Dilemmas, ed. by C. W. Gowans, Oxford University Press, New York.
Donagan, A. (1987). Consistency in rationalist moral systems. In,Moral Dilemmas, ed. by C. W. Gowans, Oxford University Press, New York.
La Puma, J. and Schiedermayer, D. (1994).Ethics Consultation: A Practical Guide, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Boston.
Derber, C., Schwartz, W. and Magrass, Y. (1990).Power in the Highest Degree: Professionals and the Rise of a New Mandarin Order, Oxford University Press, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brannigan, M.C. Designing ethicists. Health Care Anal 4, 206–218 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02252881
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02252881