An anthropological exploration of contemporary bioethics: The varieties of common sense

Journal of Medical Ethics

Volumn 24, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 127-133

  Turner, Leigh ^a  

^a HASTINGS CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

Anthropology; Bioethics; Casuistry; Diversity; Pluralism; Principlism

Indexed keywords

BRAIN DEATH; EUTHANASIA; HUMAN; INFORMED CONSENT; MEDICAL ETHICS; MORALITY; ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION; RELIGION; REVIEW;

EID: 0348202969     PISSN: 03066800     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1136/jme.24.2.127     Document Type: Review

References (28)

1. Several scholars working in the fields of bioethics and the anthropology of medicine do attend to this multiplicity of moral traditions. See, for example, Kleinman A. Writings at the margin: discourse between anthropology and medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995; Kunstadter P. Medical ethics in cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspectives. Social Science and Medicine 1980; 14B:289; Lieban RW. Medical anthropology and the comparative study of medical ethics. In: Weisz G, ed. Social science perspectives on medical ethics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990: 221-2; Murray TH. Moral reasoning in social context. Journal of Social Issues 1993; 49/2:185-200; Parens E. The pluralist constellation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1995; 4:197-206; Wildes KW. The priesthood of bioethics and the return of casuistry. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1993; 18:33-49.
2. Several scholars working in the fields of bioethics and the anthropology of medicine do attend to this multiplicity of moral traditions. See, for example, Kleinman A. Writings at the margin: discourse between anthropology and medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995; Kunstadter P. Medical ethics in cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspectives. Social Science and Medicine 1980; 14B:289; Lieban RW. Medical anthropology and the comparative study of medical ethics. In: Weisz G, ed. Social science perspectives on medical ethics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990: 221-2; Murray TH. Moral reasoning in social context. Journal of Social Issues 1993; 49/2:185-200; Parens E. The pluralist constellation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1995; 4:197-206; Wildes KW. The priesthood of bioethics and the return of casuistry. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1993; 18:33-49.
3. Several scholars working in the fields of bioethics and the anthropology of medicine do attend to this multiplicity of moral traditions. See, for example, Kleinman A. Writings at the margin: discourse between anthropology and medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995; Kunstadter P. Medical ethics in cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspectives. Social Science and Medicine 1980; 14B:289; Lieban RW. Medical anthropology and the comparative study of medical ethics. In: Weisz G, ed. Social science perspectives on medical ethics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990: 221-2; Murray TH. Moral reasoning in social context. Journal of Social Issues 1993; 49/2:185-200; Parens E. The pluralist constellation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1995; 4:197-206; Wildes KW. The priesthood of bioethics and the return of casuistry. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1993; 18:33-49.
4. Several scholars working in the fields of bioethics and the anthropology of medicine do attend to this multiplicity of moral traditions. See, for example, Kleinman A. Writings at the margin: discourse between anthropology and medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995; Kunstadter P. Medical ethics in cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspectives. Social Science and Medicine 1980; 14B:289; Lieban RW. Medical anthropology and the comparative study of medical ethics. In: Weisz G, ed. Social science perspectives on medical ethics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990: 221-2; Murray TH. Moral reasoning in social context. Journal of Social Issues 1993; 49/2:185-200; Parens E. The pluralist constellation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1995; 4:197-206; Wildes KW. The priesthood of bioethics and the return of casuistry. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1993; 18:33-49.
5. Several scholars working in the fields of bioethics and the anthropology of medicine do attend to this multiplicity of moral traditions. See, for example, Kleinman A. Writings at the margin: discourse between anthropology and medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995; Kunstadter P. Medical ethics in cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspectives. Social Science and Medicine 1980; 14B:289; Lieban RW. Medical anthropology and the comparative study of medical ethics. In: Weisz G, ed. Social science perspectives on medical ethics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990: 221-2; Murray TH. Moral reasoning in social context. Journal of Social Issues 1993; 49/2:185-200; Parens E. The pluralist constellation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1995; 4:197-206; Wildes KW. The priesthood of bioethics and the return of casuistry. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1993; 18:33-49.
6. Several scholars working in the fields of bioethics and the anthropology of medicine do attend to this multiplicity of moral traditions. See, for example, Kleinman A. Writings at the margin: discourse between anthropology and medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995; Kunstadter P. Medical ethics in cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspectives. Social Science and Medicine 1980; 14B:289; Lieban RW. Medical anthropology and the comparative study of medical ethics. In: Weisz G, ed. Social science perspectives on medical ethics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990: 221-2; Murray TH. Moral reasoning in social context. Journal of Social Issues 1993; 49/2:185-200; Parens E. The pluralist constellation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1995; 4:197-206; Wildes KW. The priesthood of bioethics and the return of casuistry. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1993; 18:33-49.
7. Blackhall L, Murphy ST, Frank G, Michel V, Azen S. Ethnicity and attitudes toward patient autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:820-5; Carrese J, Rhodes L. Western bioethics on the Navajo reservation, benefit or harm. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:826-9; Jecker NS, Carrese JA, Pearlman RA. Caring for patients in cross-cultural settings. Hastings Center Report 1995;Jan-Feb:14; Koenig B, Gates-Williams J. Understanding cultural differences in caring for the dying. Western Journal of Medicine 1995; 163:244-9; Michel V. Factoring ethnic and racial differences into bioethics decision making. Generations 1994;Winter:23-6; Orono CJ, Koenig, B, David AJ. Cultural aspects of nondisclosure. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994; 3:338-46; Surbone A. Truthtelling to the patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992; 268, 13:1661-2.
8. Blackhall L, Murphy ST, Frank G, Michel V, Azen S. Ethnicity and attitudes toward patient autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:820-5; Carrese J, Rhodes L. Western bioethics on the Navajo reservation, benefit or harm. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:826-9; Jecker NS, Carrese JA, Pearlman RA. Caring for patients in cross-cultural settings. Hastings Center Report 1995;Jan-Feb:14; Koenig B, Gates-Williams J. Understanding cultural differences in caring for the dying. Western Journal of Medicine 1995; 163:244-9; Michel V. Factoring ethnic and racial differences into bioethics decision making. Generations 1994;Winter:23-6; Orono CJ, Koenig, B, David AJ. Cultural aspects of nondisclosure. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994; 3:338-46; Surbone A. Truthtelling to the patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992; 268, 13:1661-2.
9. Blackhall L, Murphy ST, Frank G, Michel V, Azen S. Ethnicity and attitudes toward patient autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:820-5; Carrese J, Rhodes L. Western bioethics on the Navajo reservation, benefit or harm. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:826-9; Jecker NS, Carrese JA, Pearlman RA. Caring for patients in cross-cultural settings. Hastings Center Report 1995;Jan-Feb:14; Koenig B, Gates-Williams J. Understanding cultural differences in caring for the dying. Western Journal of Medicine 1995; 163:244-9; Michel V. Factoring ethnic and racial differences into bioethics decision making. Generations 1994;Winter:23-6; Orono CJ, Koenig, B, David AJ. Cultural aspects of nondisclosure. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994; 3:338-46; Surbone A. Truthtelling to the patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992; 268, 13:1661-2.
10. Blackhall L, Murphy ST, Frank G, Michel V, Azen S. Ethnicity and attitudes toward patient autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:820-5; Carrese J, Rhodes L. Western bioethics on the Navajo reservation, benefit or harm. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:826-9; Jecker NS, Carrese JA, Pearlman RA. Caring for patients in cross-cultural settings. Hastings Center Report 1995;Jan-Feb:14; Koenig B, Gates-Williams J. Understanding cultural differences in caring for the dying. Western Journal of Medicine 1995; 163:244-9; Michel V. Factoring ethnic and racial differences into bioethics decision making. Generations 1994;Winter:23-6; Orono CJ, Koenig, B, David AJ. Cultural aspects of nondisclosure. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994; 3:338-46; Surbone A. Truthtelling to the patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992; 268, 13:1661-2.
11. Blackhall L, Murphy ST, Frank G, Michel V, Azen S. Ethnicity and attitudes toward patient autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:820-5; Carrese J, Rhodes L. Western bioethics on the Navajo reservation, benefit or harm. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:826-9; Jecker NS, Carrese JA, Pearlman RA. Caring for patients in cross-cultural settings. Hastings Center Report 1995;Jan-Feb:14; Koenig B, Gates-Williams J. Understanding cultural differences in caring for the dying. Western Journal of Medicine 1995; 163:244-9; Michel V. Factoring ethnic and racial differences into bioethics decision making. Generations 1994;Winter:23-6; Orono CJ, Koenig, B, David AJ. Cultural aspects of nondisclosure. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994; 3:338-46; Surbone A. Truthtelling to the patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992; 268, 13:1661-2.
12. Blackhall L, Murphy ST, Frank G, Michel V, Azen S. Ethnicity and attitudes toward patient autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:820-5; Carrese J, Rhodes L. Western bioethics on the Navajo reservation, benefit or harm. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:826-9; Jecker NS, Carrese JA, Pearlman RA. Caring for patients in cross-cultural settings. Hastings Center Report 1995;Jan-Feb:14; Koenig B, Gates-Williams J. Understanding cultural differences in caring for the dying. Western Journal of Medicine 1995; 163:244-9; Michel V. Factoring ethnic and racial differences into bioethics decision making. Generations 1994;Winter:23-6; Orono CJ, Koenig, B, David AJ. Cultural aspects of nondisclosure. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994; 3:338-46; Surbone A. Truthtelling to the patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992; 268, 13:1661-2.
13. Blackhall L, Murphy ST, Frank G, Michel V, Azen S. Ethnicity and attitudes toward patient autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:820-5; Carrese J, Rhodes L. Western bioethics on the Navajo reservation, benefit or harm. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 274:826-9; Jecker NS, Carrese JA, Pearlman RA. Caring for patients in cross-cultural settings. Hastings Center Report 1995;Jan-Feb:14; Koenig B, Gates-Williams J. Understanding cultural differences in caring for the dying. Western Journal of Medicine 1995; 163:244-9; Michel V. Factoring ethnic and racial differences into bioethics decision making. Generations 1994;Winter:23-6; Orono CJ, Koenig, B, David AJ. Cultural aspects of nondisclosure. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994; 3:338-46; Surbone A. Truthtelling to the patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992; 268, 13:1661-2.
14. Berger PL. The sacred canopy: elements of a sociological theory of religion. New York: Anchor Books, 1967: 127-53. Berger's account suggests that the conflict of contemporary interpretive traditions, or "canopies" of understanding, with distinctive modes of justification and legitimation, is scarcely limited to the North American context.
15. Bellah RN, Madsen R, Sullivan WM, Swidler A, Tipton SM. Habits of the heart: individualism and commitment in American life. New York: Harper & Row, 1985: 71-5.
16. Rawls, J. Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
17. Jonsen A, Toulmin S. The abuse of casuistry: a history of moral reasoning. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
18. Beauchamp TL, Childress J F. Principles of biomedical ethics [4th ed]. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
19. For a consideration of the implications of this move toward the imagery of the web for the whole of philosophy, see Murphy N. Postmodern non-relativism: Imre Lakatos, Theo Meyering, and Alasdair MacIntyre. The Philosophical Forum 1995; XXVII, 1, Fall: 37-53.
20. Gombrich EH. Art and illusion: a study in the psychology of pictorial representation. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.
21. While I focus upon the North American context, there is reason to think that many of these comments are pertinent within other regions. For an example of the way in which widely divergent understandings of the meaning of autonomy interact in Israel, see Glick SM. Unlimited human autonomy - a cultural bias?" The New England Journal of Medicine 1997; 336, 13:954-6.
22. Novack DH, Plumer R, Smith RL, Ochitil H, Morrow GR, Bennett JM. Changes in physicians' attitudes toward telling the cancer patient. Journal of the American Medical Association 1979; 241:897.
23. Delvecchio Good M-J, Hunt L, Munakata T, Kobayashi Y. A comparative analysis of the culture of biomedicine: disclosure and consequences for treatment in the practice of oncology. In: Conrad P, Gallagher EB, eds. Health and health care in developing countries. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993: 180-93.
24. Kaufert JM, O'Neil JD. Biomedical rituals and informed consent: native Canadians and the negotiation of clinical trust. In: Weisz G, ed. Social science perspectives on medical ethics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990: 41-63.
25. Campbell CS. Religious ethics and active euthanasia in a pluralistic society.Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 1992; 2, 3:253-77.
26. Fox RC, O'Connell LJ, Younger SJ. Introduction. In: Younger SJ, Fox RC, O'Connell, LJ. Organ transplantation: meanings and realities. Madison Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1996: 3-18.
27. MacIntyre, A. Whose justice? Which rationality? Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988.
28. Taylor, C. The politics of recognition. In: Gutmann A. Multiculturalism and "the politics of recognition". Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992: 25-73.