Care for Language: Etymology as a Continental Argument in Bioethics

Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 18 (4):645-654 (2021)
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Abstract

Emphasizing the importance of language is a key characteristic of philosophical reflection in general and of bioethics in particular. Rather than trying to eliminate the historicity and ambiguity of language, a continental approach to bioethics will make conscious use of it, for instance by closely studying the history of the key terms we employ in bioethical debates. Continental bioethics entails a focus on the historical vicissitudes of the key signifiers of the bioethical vocabulary, urging us to study the history of terms such as “bioethics,” “autonomy,” “privacy,” and “consensus.” Instead of trying to define such terms as clearly and unequivocally as possible, a continental approach rather requires us to take a step backwards, tracing the historical backdrop of the words currently in vogue. By comparing the original meanings of terms with their current meanings, and by considering important moments of transition in their history, obfuscated dimensions of meaning can be retrieved. Thus, notwithstanding a number of methodological challenges involved in etymological exercises, they may foster moral articulacy and enhance our ability to come to terms with moral dilemmas we are facing.

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Hub Zwart
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Citations of this work

A Lost Idyll of Connection?Michael Ashby - 2021 - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 18 (4):537-540.

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References found in this work

The Foundations of Bioethics.H. T. Engelhardt - 1986 - Ethics 98 (2):402-405.
From the Nadir of Negativity towards the Cusp of Reconciliation.Hub Zwart - 2017 - Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 21 (2/3):175-198.
The Place of Autonomy in Bioethics.James F. Childress - 1990 - Hastings Center Report 20 (1):12-17.

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