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Feminist Directions in Medical Ethics∗

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Virginia L. Warren
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Abstract

I explore some new directions—suggested by feminism—for medical ethics and for philosophical ethics generally. Moral philosophers need to confront two issues. The first is deciding which moral issues merit attention. Questions which incorporate the perspectives of women need to be posed—e. g., about the unequal treatment of women in health care, about the roles of physician and nurse, and about relationship issues other than power struggles. “Crisis issues” currently dominate medical ethics, to the neglect of what I call “housekeeping issues.” The second issue is how philosophical moral debates are conducted, especially how ulterior motives influence our beliefs and arguments. Both what we select—and neglect—to study as well as the “games” we play may be sending a message as loud as the words we do speak on ethics.

Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 4 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Feminist Ethics and Medicine , Summer 1989 , pp. 73 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 by Hypatia, Inc.

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Footnotes

∗

I read earlier versions of this paper at the Society of Women in Philosophy, Pacific Division meetings in Los Angeles in April, 1988, and at the conference on “Explorations in Feminist Ethics: Theory and Practice,” in Duluth, MN, in October, 1988. I thank the members of both audiences for their comments, and Gregory S. Kavka, who commented on an early version. Thanks for helpful substantive and editorial suggestions go to Helen Bequaert Holmes and Laura M. Purdy, the editors of this issue of Hypatia, and to the two anonymous reviewers of this paper.

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