Prinzip und Urteilskraft in der Medizinethik

Abstract

Zusammenfassung Diverging positions can be identified in applied ethics with regard to the justification, nature and application of ethical principles. In this article we will discuss the preconditions for establishing a relation between general principles and the particular situation which is to be evaluated in ethical judgment. The functioning of principles in applied ethics will be discussed on the exemplary basis of medical ethics. In a first step, current meta-ethical discussions on moral particularism will be analysed to see what aspects they may contribute to the side of the principle or the general in ethical judgment. In a next step, the side of the particular or situational will be illuminated against the background of current discussions in the context of the “empirical turn” in medical ethics. Based on these considerations, the importance of the power of judgment in medical ethics will be stressed and a model of productive and reflective judgment will be sketched.