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Between technocracy and democratic legitimation: a proposed compromise position for common morality public bioethics
1Department of Sociology, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, 92093-0533, USA. jhevans@ucsd.edu
The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
|June 9, 2006
Summary
Public bioethics, particularly dominant forms, attempts to wield technocratic authority, similar to economists in Mexico. However, bioethics holds a weak position, hindering public legitimacy, suggesting a "technocracy-lite" approach.
Area of Science:
- Political Philosophy
- Bioethics
- Public Policy
Background:
- Explores the political philosophy underpinning public bioethics.
- Compares public bioethics to technocratic authority, using Mexican economists (1980s-1990s) as a case study.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the implicit design and utilization of technocratic authority within public bioethics.
- To understand the historical emergence and persistence of this approach in bioethics.
- To evaluate the legitimacy and authority claims of public bioethics.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of public bioethics and technocratic authority models.
- Historical examination of the development of bioethics in relation to technocracy.
Main Results:
- Dominant forms of public bioethics are designed to, and attempt to, employ technocratic authority.
- Bioethics occupies a significantly weaker position in its claims to technocratic authority compared to other fields.
- This weak authoritative stance contributes to bioethics' limited public legitimacy.
Conclusions:
- Public bioethics struggles to achieve broad public legitimacy due to its weak technocratic foundation.
- Recommends a "technocracy-lite" orientation for public bioethics to navigate its authority and legitimacy challenges.
- Suggests a re-evaluation of how bioethics engages with and claims authority in the public sphere.
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