Abstract

In this essay I offer practical guidance aimed at promoting competence and success in the activity of bioethics scholarship. I present a set of maxims or rules of thumb, which I exemplify and explicate by drawing on my own work, encompassing 30 years of practicing bioethics scholarship, formal and informal mentoring, extensive peer reviewing for bioethics, biomedical, and philosophy journals, and several years as Deputy Editor of Perspectives in Biology and Medicine—an interdisciplinary journal that frequently publishes bioethics articles. The title of the essay is adapted from Max Weber’s famous lecture, “Science as a Vocation”.Bioethics scholarship generally takes two forms:...