Debating Ethical Expertise

Debating ethical expertise.

This paper explores the relevance of the debate about ethical expertise for the practice of clinical ethics. We present definitions, explain three theories of ethical expertise, and identify arguments that have been brought up to either support the concept of ethical expertise or call it into question. Finally, we discuss four theses: the debate is relevant for the practice of clinical ethics i...

Ethical expertise revisited

The status of knowledge, skills and virtues in morality has been discussed since the days of Socrates. However, in the last few decades, ethicists have become involved in healthcare, business, industry, journalism as never before. This development has triggered a modern debate about whether bestowing a specific authority in morals upon specialists is a good idea. The discussion focuses on the p...

Editorial: Statements, declarations and the problems of ethical expertise

Socio-ethical issues for expertise location from electronic mail

Knowledge workers frequently lack sufficient expertise to perform work effectively. This paper describes a recently developed expertise locator system based on automated key-phrase identification of experts from electronic mail (e-mail) messages. The paper provides an analysis of the key socio-ethical challenges involved in the implementation and use of the e-mail expertise locator system. Find...

Debating DAP12

Mice that lack the adaptor protein DAP12 defy deadly bacterial infections, according to Turnbull and colleagues on page 363. DAP12-deficient mice developed a muted inflammatory response, allowing the immune system to clear the bacteria without triggering septic shock. DAP12 is a transmembrane adaptor protein that is associated with an array of DAP12-deficient mice (dotted line) are resistant to...