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Deliberating about Bioethics
Author(s) -
Gutmann Amy,
Thompson Dennis
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.2307/3528667
Subject(s) - bioethics , autonomy , democracy , action (physics) , abortion , deliberative democracy , political science , politics , collective action , sociology , law and economics , environmental ethics , law , epistemology , philosophy , pregnancy , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , genetics
In some sense, bioethics was built on conflicts. Abortion, physician‐assisted suicide, patients’ demand for autonomy all are staple and contentious issues. And the controversies continue to proliferate. What forum best serves such debates? A look at political theories of democracy can help answer that question. The most promising for bioethics debates are theories that ask citizens and officials to justify any demands for collective action by giving reasons that can be accepted by those who are bound by the action. This conception has come to be known as deliberative democracy .