What is the Foundation of Medical Ethics - Common Morality, Professional Norms, or Moral Philosophy?

Abstract

This paper considers the relation between medical ethics (ME) and common morality (CM), professional norms, and moral philosophy. It proceeds by analyzing two recent book-length critical analyses of this relationship by Bob Baker in The Structure of Moral Revolutions - Studies of Changes in the Morality of Abortion, Death, and the Bioethics Revolution and Rosamond Rhodes in The Trusted Doctor - Medical Ethics and Professionalism. It argues that despite the strengths of these critical arguments, there is nevertheless a relationship between ME, understood as the professional ethics of the healthcare professions, and both CM and moral philosophy. It also argues that ME cannot and should not be understood purely as the internally developed professional norms of the medical or healthcare professions.