Conscience and Ethics: When Principles Are Not Enough

Conscience and Ethics: When Principles Are Not Enough

Introduction:

On January 18th, 2024, Dr. Margaret Gaffney, M.D., gave the latest iteration of our Bioethics Grand Rounds. For several decades, biomedical ethics has relied heavily on using four major ethical principles, or ethical theory to address and resolve ethical dilemmas. But what happens when theories, or two or more principles conflict, or contradict, or are simply inadequate to address an important question of care, policy, or relationship? Conscience-sensitive ethics augments the principle and theory approaches specifically by addressing moral emotions and moral attachments, two aspects of any human encounter which are ignored by traditional approaches to medical ethics.