title: [Language and metalanguage in bioethics].
abstract: The language of Bioethics is situated in a context of singular terminological complexity. On the one hand, if we look at the epistemological status of this discipline, we can realize that the knowledge of their material object (which refers to the Bios and transformations that technology involves) requires the assistance of several sciences, whose contribution is indispensable for understanding the empirical data. At the same time, the question which constitutes its formal object is clearly philosophical, and therefore requires moving at the level of ethics. This paper attempts to deal with some problematic knots of the issue, gathered around two axes: the role of techno-scientific language in bioethics and its explanatory ability and the characteristics of philosophical language. As for the second point, it also discusses the tentative to find a neutral language (structuring the same Bioethics as a lingua franca); the recourse to indirect speech that shifts the focus from the truth of the arguments to the framework of models; the rhetorical use of the language.
authors.affiliation: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano. Lago Gemelli, 1.20123 Milano. Italia. Tel +39 02 7234 2922. elena.colombetti@unicatt.it.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Colombetti
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D019348:Empiricism; D007802:Language