Reflections on Clinical Ethics

Reflections on Science and Ethics*

I am a student of philosophy. In the beginning I had actually thought of studying music, not so much because I love music – but because music has never caused war. Only words produce war, and, having become afraid of words, I thought – why not study music and become a conductor? But then I chose philosophy – because of the questions it involves; and I almost left philosophy – because of the ans...

Reflections on Ethics and Game Theory

Reflections on morality, ethics, and bioethics decisions.

From the presumed biological evolutionary origins of a urmorality, there eventually developed a conscious set of morality concepts and rules that became less immediate and more abstract, and increasingly shaped by social factors. Today the concepts and precepts of morality have come to form a complex system in which each specialized professional ethics respond with a certain degree of latitude ...

Starting clinical trials of xenotransplantation--reflections on the ethics of the early phase.

What kind of patients may be recruited to early clinical trials of xenotransplantation? This is discussed under the assumption that the risk of viral infection to the public is non-negligible. Furthermore, the conditions imposed by the Helsinki declaration are analysed. The conclusion is that only patients at risk of dying and with no alternative treatment available should be recruited to xenot...

Honor Among Thieves: Some Reflections on Professional Codes of Ethics’

As complicated an affair as it may be to give a fully acceptable general characterization of professional codes of ethics that will capture every nuance, one theme that has attracted widespread attention portrays them as contrivances whose primary function is to secure certain obligations of professionals to clients, or to the external community.2 In contrast to such an “externalist” characteri...