ABSTRACT
The contributions to this book examine common quandaries that physicians face in their daily dealings with the differing stakeholders who have interests in their multiple roles. Almost all have empirical content which captures the perceptions of people with multiple agencies, and each, in some way, suggests the need for value pluralism as a perspective from which to approach these personal challenges. Value pluralism is here interpreted as a mode of engagement with conflicting expressions of values by understanding and reflection. It can neither solve all quandaries nor provide universal rules for processes of resolution. Its sceptical, open, receptive, and reflective mode of engagement provides a heuristic, a point of reference for genuine restrained partisanship in argument. It is context driven and socially constrained by reasonableness and recognition of prevailing, viable beliefs and practices. In other words, it acknowledges and critiques existing norms without constructing its own eternal norms, and it recognizes the pragmatic demand for change as the world changes. Warrants for claims are the outcomes of fair argument, and the processes of seeking and balancing contested beliefs are central to the practice of value pluralism.
