Clinical Ethics

There is the world of ideas and the world of practice; the French are often for sup pressing the one and the English the other; but neither is to be suppressed. -Matthew Arnold The Function of Criticism at the Present Time From its inception, bioethics has confronted the need to reconcile theory and practice. At first the confrontation was purely intellectual, as writers on ethical theory (within phi losophy, theology, or other humanistic disciplines) turned their attention to topics from the world of medical practice. Recently the confrontation has grown more intense. The ap pointment of clinical ethicists in hospitals and other health care settings is an accelerating trend in North America. Concomitantly, those institutions involved in training peo ple in clinical ethics have added organized exposure to the world of practice , in the form of placement requirements, to the normal academic course load. In common with other dis ciplines, bioethics has begun to see clinical training as a con dition of didactic theory and apprenticeship.

Clinical Ethics, Applied Ethics, and Theory.- The Skeptical Critique of Clinical Ethics.- Moral Experts and Moral Expertise: Do Either Exist?.- Persons with Moral Expertise and Moral Experts: Wherein Lies the Difference?.- Ethical Theory and Applied Ethics: A Reply to the Skeptics.- Bringing Codes to Newcastle: Ethics for Clinical Ethicists.- Moral Problems, Moral Inquiry, and Consultation in Clinical Ethics.- Ethical Theory and Applied Ethics: Reflections on Connections.- Applied Ethics: Don't Change the Subject.- Philosophical Ethics and Practical Ethics: Never the Twain Shall Meet.