title: How abstract is my thinking as an ethicist in clinical settings?
abstract: Answering how abstract my thinking is in practicing applied ethics in clinical settings involves clarifying the idea of abstraction. I see three categories of cases: 1) those I decide automatically, 2) those I feel oblige extra care, and 3) those that force me to abstract thinking in some sense of the word. I use a method for tracking the values at stake in such cases and use it in all three sorts of cases. In consequence, then, to issues about education or training for clinical ethics, I think one needs a method for problem solving that does not seem very abstract but that depends on analyses of some very abstract notions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Osteopathic Medicine.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Erde
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D026822:Ethicists; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008606:Mental Processes; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D011340:Problem Solving; D024382:Professional Role; D013850:Thinking