PHI 2396 Chapter 1: Topic 1 Ethical Theories and Principles
24 Nov 2015
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Document Summary
Bioethics is a hybrid discipline; it is interdisciplinary. It applies general ethical theories, principles, and rules to problems of therapeutic practice, health care delivery, and medical and biological research. Bioethics uses ethical theories and applies them to research and practices; we need knowledge of ethics as well as knowledge of biological and medical research. The beginnings of bioethics dates back to 5th century b. c. with the hippocratic oath, which is the first code of ethics for health care professionals; it is considered the first bioethical document. Bioethics has a close relationship with the law (e. g. : criminal and civil law) On the one hand, the law defines the social boundaries and condition for health care delivery. On the other hand, ethical theory and research may serve as a resource for developing a case-law (laws that are created based on a specific case) E. g. : morgentaler"s case (won against the supreme court to legalize abortion)
