Relational approaches in bioethics: A guide to their differences

Contemporary critical approaches to bioethics increasingly present themselves as “relational,” though the meaning of relationality and its implications for bioethics seem to be many and varying. I argue that this confusion is due to a multiplicity of relational approaches originating from distinct t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioethics
Main Author: Gary, Mercer (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2023
In: Bioethics
Year: 2023, Volume: 37, Issue: 8, Pages: 733-740
IxTheo Classification:NBE Anthropology
NCC Social ethics
NCJ Ethics of science
Further subjects:B relational theory
B relational autonomy
B Care Ethics
B relational ethics
B feminist bioethics
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Summary:Contemporary critical approaches to bioethics increasingly present themselves as “relational,” though the meaning of relationality and its implications for bioethics seem to be many and varying. I argue that this confusion is due to a multiplicity of relational approaches originating from distinct theoretical lineages. In this article, I identify four key differences among commonly referenced relational approaches: the scope and nature of relationships considered, the extent of the determining influence on individual selfhood, and the integrity of individual selfhood. Importantly, these four differences carry consequences for the usage of relational approaches within academic and clinical bioethics. I show that these differences attach to multiple objects of critique within mainstream bioethics and imply distinct metaethical commitments. Although I issue a cautionary note about combining relational approaches from distinct lineages, I close by suggesting that many such approaches may have their use, drawing on Susan Sherwin's sense of bioethical theories as lenses.
ISSN:1467-8519
Contains:Enthalten in: Bioethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/bioe.13200