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The sociology of bioethics

In: Handbook on the Sociology of Health and Medicine

Author

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  • Raymond De Vries

Abstract

A thoroughgoing sociology of bioethics investigates the social and cultural context that shapes the way the moral problems of medicine come to be defined and resolved. A sociologist of bioethics should do more than offer the tools of sociology to help those who practice bioethics address the problems they face. The true value of sociology for bioethics lies in asking: What makes an ordinary problem in health care and the life sciences a bioethical problem? Who is given the authority to define and resolve bioethical problems? How are the proposed resolutions to these problems received? This overview of the sociological approach and its application to bioethics will allow you to put the ethical problems of medicine and health care in their place, moving beyond the clinic and the research lab to see how the social arrangements of medical care and its place in society are implicated in the moral problems of medicine.

Suggested Citation

  • Raymond De Vries, 2023. "The sociology of bioethics," Chapters, in: Alan Petersen (ed.), Handbook on the Sociology of Health and Medicine, chapter 18, pages 274-290, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:19641_18
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    File URL: https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781839104756.00027
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