ABSTRACT
Moral philosophy has been interpreted in various ways in its long history. In Chapter 1 we have accepted the dominant contemporary philosophical approach which depicts moral philosophy as a second-order activity concerned with uncovering and examining critically the assumptions we make and the arguments we use when as moral agents we engage in moral discussion and make practical decisions. Since bioethics from one point of view is simply ordinary first-order morality in a medical context its assumptions and arguments should be open to the second-order scrutiny of moral philosophy. Scrutiny of this critical kind will be the main aim of this chapter. Our hope is that out of this critical examination will come some positive suggestions for methods of argument which can be used by those who, unlike moral philosophers, actually face these problems. As a way into these questions we shall offer some observations on the recent history of bioethics.
