title: Methodological concerns in bioethics.
abstract: Methodological concerns are moving to the top of the bioethics agenda for the next decade. This paper examines some of those concerns: medical ethics as a subset of bioethics versus medical ethics as a subset of professional ethics; a more in-depth examination of some methodological problems in treating medical ethics as professional ethics; the senses in which bioethics constitutes an inquiry into secular undertakings in a pluralistic society; 'federal ethics', the emergence to prominence of public commissions and study groups; and the institutional impact of bioethics on the relationship between medical schools and the liberal arts core of their sponsoring universities.
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D026686:Beneficence; D001675:Bioethics; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006077:Government Agencies; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008722:Methods; D028681:Moral Obligations; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D028723:Personhood; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D014481:United States; D028722:Virtues