How Bioethical Standpoints Influence Biomedical Decisions Robert Arp, Ph.D. Ontology Research Group (ORG) National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health through the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical Research, Grant 1 U 54 HG Information on the National Centers for Biomedical Computing can be found at:

See: Biomedical Ethics Ontology wiki/doku.php?id=bioethics_ontology Contributors: Peter Winkelstein David Koepsell Andrea Ott Robert Arp (There will be a lot of categorization of Biomedical Ethics- related entities and principles in this talk, derived from thinking about a Biomedical Ethics Ontology) wiki/doku.php?id=bioethics_ontology

DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS In this talk, I will primarily be doing:

DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS ABOUT

BIOETHICAL STANDPOINT BIOMEDICAL DECISION

METAETHICS NORMATIVE ETHICS APPLIED ETHICS GROUNDED IN

METAETHICS NORMATIVE ETHICS APPLIED ETHICS GROUNDED IN

Metaphysical Status of Moral Norms/Entities: What one believes exists “out there” in reality—god, nature, minds, matter and motion, nothing—that is the source of morality. Various Moral Theories: Religious Ethics, Natural Law Ethics, Egoism, Relativism, Utilitarianism, Kantian- Based Deontology, Virtue Ethics Applied Ethics: Business Ethics, Legal Ethics, Cyberethics, Bioethics, Medical Ethics… Biomedical Ethics GROUNDED IN

God exists… Nature is supreme… Humans with reason are central in the universe… The biosphere is sacred… There is nothing outside of this bleak existence… Priest says so… It’s unnatural… It’s cowardly… It’s not in our best interest… It’s unjust… Why? I decided not to do X… I made the practical decision to do Y… Why? BECAUSE

Our metaphysical/ontological outlook (s) Some set of principles (implicit or explicit) What we do GROUNDED IN More Simply

Another Way to Visualize This (Top-Down)… GROUNDED IN

What’s your evidence for this, Rob? - Psychological, Anthropological, Sociological, Religious, and Ethics journals and books - Testimonies resulting from more than 15 years of teaching adults and young adults general ethics, business ethics, biomedical ethics, world religions, and Catholic morality courses - 9 years of ministry in the Catholic seminary (high school, college, and grad school) at hospitals, nursing homes, half-way houses, homes for the mentally disabled, and other ministerial experiences - Years of in-depth conversations with people “getting to the bottom” as to why they act or do not act

SCHOLARLY WORKSSee, for example: - J. Fieser (Ed.), Metaethics, Normative Ethics, and Applied Ethics (Wadsworth, 1999). - A. Miller, An Introduction to Contemporary Metaethics (Cambridge, 2003). - C. Korsgaard, The Sources of Normativity (Cambridge, 1996). - M. Smith, The Moral Problem (Blackwell, 1994). - R. Shafer-Landau (Ed.), Oxford Studies in Metaethics: Volume I (Oxford, 2006). - T. Horgan & M. Timmons (Eds.), Metaethics after Moore (Oxford, 2006). - J. Jacobs, Dimensions of Moral Theory: An Introduction to Metaethics and Moral Psychology (Blackwell, 2002). - The Journal of Ethics- Ethics - Ethics and Behavior- Journal of Clinical Ethics - Bioethics- Journal of Religious Ethics - Sociology- Journal of Sociology - Cultural Studies- Journal of Cultural Studies

Our metaphysical/ontological outlook (s) Some set of principles (implicit or explicit) What we do GROUNDED IN More Simply

Our metaphysical/ontological outlook (s) God exists… Nature is supreme… Humans with reason are central in the universe… The biosphere is sacred… There is nothing outside of this bleak existence… Metaphysical Status of Moral Norms/Entities: What one believes exists “out there” in reality—god, nature, minds, matter and motion, nothing—that is the source of morality.