Commissions and biomedical ethics: the Canadian experience.
Canadians frequently have recourse to public commissions as a means of dealing with contentious public policy issues. This essay examines the role of philosophers and philosophy in nine such commissions, all of which have dealt with issues in biomedical ethics. The principal findings of this essay are that philosophers have not been used extensively by these commissions, and that the philosophical aspects of the issues under investigation have been dealth with quite inadequately. The essay concludes with suggestions for an expanded role for philosophers in such commissions.
Center for Bioethics, Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
J R
JR
Williams
D026683:Advisory Committees; D032763:Behavior Control; D026688:Bioethical Issues; D002170:Canada; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028781:Ethical Relativism; D026822:Ethicists; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006286:Health Planning Councils; D006288:Health Planning Organizations; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D040841:Resource Allocation; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement