title: Bioethics: why philosophy is essential for progress.
abstract: It is the JME's 40th anniversary and my 20th anniversary working in the field. I reflect on the nature of bioethics and medical ethics. I argue that both bioethics and medical ethics together have, in many ways, failed as fields. My diagnosis is that better philosophy is needed. I give some examples of the importance of philosophy to bioethics. I focus mostly on the failure of ethics in research and organ transplantation, although I also consider genetic selection, enhancement, cloning, futility, disability and other topics. I do not consider any topic comprehensively or systematically or address the many reasonable objections to my arguments. Rather, I seek to illustrate why philosophical analysis and argument remain as important as ever to progress in bioethics and medical ethics.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Savulescu
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D032984:Ethics, Research; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000941:ethics; D010684:Philosophy
keywords: Research Ethics