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The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

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Common morality versus specified principlism: reply to Richardson.

B Gert¹, C M Culver, K D Clouser

¹Department of Philosophy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. Bernard.Gert@Dartmouth.edu

The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy

|October 7, 2000

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Bioethical theories like principlism and common morality face challenges. Principlism

Keywords:

Analytical Approach Bioethics and Professional Ethics Philosophical Approach

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Area of Science:

Bioethics
Moral Philosophy
Medical Ethics

Background:

Critiques of dominant bioethical theories, specifically principlism and common morality, are examined.
Henry Richardson's argument that principlism and common morality are deficient due to reliance on balancing over specification is addressed.

Discussion:

This analysis refutes Richardson's claim, identifying a fundamental flaw in principlism.
Principlism incorrectly views morality as isolated principles, neglecting the interconnectedness highlighted by common morality.

Key Insights:

The core issue with principlism (both original and Richardson's specified version) is its conception of morality as free-standing principles.
Common morality, in contrast, is presented as a comprehensive public system encompassing rules, ideals, and a violation justification procedure.

Outlook:

Re-evaluating the foundational structure of moral theories in bioethics is crucial for resolving ethical disputes.
A more integrated understanding of morality, akin to common morality's framework, may offer a more robust approach to bioethical challenges.