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An undignified bioethics: there is no method in this madness.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21039694     Owner:  NLM     Status:  In-Data-Review    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
In a recent article, Alasdair Cochrane argues for the need to have an undignified bioethics. His is not, of course, a call to transform bioethics into an inelegant, pathetic discipline, or one failing to meet appropriate disciplinary standards. His is a call to simply eliminate the concept of human dignity from bioethical discourse. Here I argue that he fails to make his case. I first show that several of the flaws that Cochrane identifies are not flaws of the conceptions of dignity he discusses but rather flaws of his, often problematic, understanding of such conceptions. Second, I argue that Cochrane's case against the concept of human dignity goes too far. I thus show that were one to agree that these are indeed flaws that require that we discard our ethical concepts, then following Cochrane's recommendations would commit us not only to an undignified bioethics, i.e. a bioethics without dignity, but to a bioethics without much ethics at all.
Authors:
Inmaculada DE Melo-Martín
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2010-10-06
Journal Detail:
Title:  Bioethics     Volume:  26     ISSN:  1467-8519     ISO Abbreviation:  Bioethics     Publication Date:  2012 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2012-04-10     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8704792     Medline TA:  Bioethics     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  224-30     Citation Subset:  E; IM    
Copyright Information:
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Affiliation:
Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Cornell Medical College.
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