title: Rethinking the conceptual and empirical foundations of clinical ethics.
abstract: The five papers in the 2008 "Clinical Ethics" number of the journal address the conceptual and empirical foundations of clinical ethics. Three articles take up the concept of professionalism in medicine, exploring its possibilities and implications. The fourth article provides a distinctive, phenomenological account of the "placebo effect," a vexing topic of surprising durability in the clinical setting. The final article, a systematic review of the qualitative literature on bedside rationing of resources, creates an empirical foundation for philosophical analysis and argument of a distinctive kind.
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza MS420, Houston, TX 77030, USA. mccullou@bcm.edu
authors.forename: Laurence B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: McCullough
mesh_terms: D026689:Ethical Analysis; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D015990:Placebo Effect; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000941:ethics