title: The authority of the clinical ethicist.
abstract: Mediator? Moral Expert? Or both? "Discourse Ethics" suggests that consensus provides the foundation for defensible moral norms. Thus in building consensus on a moral problem, an ethicist is not just negotiating a compromise but is contributing to the construction of moral rules and principles that have a genuine claim on us. In this way, not only does expertise on a variety of moral positions facilitate mediation, but mediation opens the way to a kind of moral expertise.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Casarett
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Daskal
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lantos
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D032921:Consensus; D003253:Consultants; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028663:Ethical Theory; D026822:Ethicists; D033061:Ethics Consultation; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009014:Morals; D011209:Power, Psychological; D028662:Principle-Based Ethics; D024382:Professional Role; D012380:Role; D012945:Social Values