Synopses & Reviews
This wide-ranging collection of essays by one of the foremost medical ethicists in the United States explores the claim that justification in ethics, whether of matters of theory or practice, involves achieving coherence or "reflective equilibrium" (as Rawls has called it) between our moral and nonmoral beliefs. Among the practical issues addressed in the volume are the design of health care institutions, the distribution of goods between the old and the young, and fairness in hiring and firing.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: reflective equilibrium in theory and practice; 2. Wide reflective equilibrium and theory acceptance in ethics; 3. Reflective equilibrium and archimedian points; 4. On some methods of ethics and linguistics; 5. Two approaches to theory acceptance in ethics; 6. An argument about the relativity of justice; 7. Moral theory and the plasticity of persons; 8. Reflective equilibrium and justice as political; 9. Health-care needs and distributive justice; 10. Equality of what: welfare, resources, or capabilities?; 11. Determining 'medical necessity' in mental health practice; 12. The prudential lifespan account of justice across generations; 13. Problems with prudence; 14. Merit and meritocracy; 15. Rationing fairly: programmatic considerations; 16. Wide reflective equilibrium in practice.