title: Spanning our differences: moral psychology, physician beliefs, and the practice of medicine.
abstract: Moral pluralism is the norm in contemporary society. Even the best philosophical arguments rarely persuade moral opponents who differ at a foundational level. This has been vividly illustrated in contemporary debates in bioethics surrounding contentious issues such as abortion and euthanasia. It is readily apparent that bioethics discourse lacks an empirical explanation for the broad differences about various topics in bioethics and health policy. In recent years, social and cognitive psychology has generated novel approaches for defining basic differences in moral intuitions generally. We propose that if empirical research using social intuitionist theory explains why people disagree with one another over moral issues, then the results of such research might help people debate their moral differences in a more constructive and civil manner. We illustrate the utility of social intuitionism with data from a national physician survey.
authors.forename: Ryan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Antiel
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Humeniuk
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Ethics Research Unit, Program in Professionalism and Ethics, Division of Health Care Policy and Research, Division of General Internal Medicine, Healthcare Delivery Research Program, Center for the Science of Healthcare Delivery, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. tilburt.jon@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Jon C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tilburt
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000941:ethics; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D026688:Bioethical Issues; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States