ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an outline of the procedure of moral case deliberation. Moral case deliberation is a methodically structured joint reflection among a – preferably multi-disciplinary – group of health care professionals (nurses, physicians, psychologists, social workers, pastoral workers, etc.) on a real case that is experienced as morally troublesome. The chapter sets out what skills considered to be necessary to properly facilitate a moral case deliberation, and points out that these are philosophical and ethical skills. Next, it presents a case example. After that, the chapter goes into the philosophical background of moral case deliberation by elaborating on the principles of hermeneutic ethics. Finally, it reflects on the role of the clinical ethicist, and argue that facilitating moral case deliberation requires a specific kind of moral expertise: he or she needs to be in possession of what we would like to call hermeneutic skills.
