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Journal of Medical Ethics logoLink to Journal of Medical Ethics
. 1999 Aug;25(4):340–343. doi: 10.1136/jme.25.4.340

In defence of medical ethics.

M H Kottow 1
PMCID: PMC479245  PMID: 10461599

Abstract

A number of recent publications by the philosopher David Seedhouse are discussed. Although medicine is an eminently ethical enterprise, the technical and ethical aspects of health care practices can be distinguished, therefore justifying the existence of medical ethics and its teaching as a specific part of every medical curriculum. The goal of teaching medical ethics is to make health care practitioners aware of the essential ethical aspects of their work. Furthermore, the contention that rational bioethics is a fruitless enterprise because it analyses non-rational social events seems neither theoretically tenable nor to be borne out by actual practice. Medical ethics in particular and bioethics in general, constitute a field of expertise that must make itself understandable and convincing to relevant audiences in health care.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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