lundi 12 mars 2012 : What is Narrative Ethics ?

The term narrative ethics emerged in medical humanities and bioethics discourse in the 1990s, especially in the USA, in conjunction with 1) increasing attention to the importance of narrative in clinical practice and bioethics and 2) increasing dissatisfaction with the dominant principle-based paradigm for bioethics. Two decades later, the term still confuses many because it is used to refer to several different alternative approaches to clinical ethics. This presentation will examine several early strands of narrative ethics: 1) an emphasis on existential moral inquiry best developed through literature; 2) a turn to case-based ethical casuistry that uses analogical reasoning and abduction, as in clinical casuistry; 3) a reliance on interpretive skills, based in narrative competence in medicine; and 4) a shift from quandary-based decisional ethics to patient-centered relational ethics. It will conclude with an assessment of how these various strands have intertwined in contemporary thinking and practice.

22 février 2012

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