TOWARD A VIRTUE-BASED NORMATIVE ETHICS FOR THE HEALTH-PROFESSIONS

Virtue is the most perdurable concept in the history of ethics, which is understandable given the ineradicability of the moral agent in the events of the moral life. Historically, virtue enjoyed normative force as long as the philosophical anthropology and the metaphysics of the good that grounded virtue were viable. That grounding has eroded in bo th general and medical ethics. If virtue is to be restored to a normat ive status, its philosophical underpinnings must be reconstructed. Suc h reconstruction seems unlikely in general ethics, where the possibili ty of agreement on the good for humans is remote. However, it is a rea listic possibility in the professional ethics of the health profession s where agreement on the telos of the healing relationship is more lik ely to arise. Nevertheless, virtue-based ethics must be related concep tually and normatively to other ethical theories in a comprehensive mo ral philosophy of the health professions.