Bioethics: a balancing of concerns in context

Ethics is a philosophical approach which is increasingly being used to identify acceptable behaviour in a health context. Bioethics has emerged as a term for ethics in health and medical contexts. Bioethics is about the application of reasoning to a health context. It relies on the people in each context to reflect on ethics concerns, and to make acceptable decisions on how to behave. This paper canvasses current concerns in bioethics, and demonstrates the essential features of context, and players in the context, in ethical discussion.