What Ethics Is, What It Is Not, and How We Are Going to Proceed

Abstract

This chapter gives an introductory account of ethics which at the same time starts to discuss particular issues that arise in genomics research ethics. The difference between ethics and the more focussed concerns and the methods of research ethics committees is explained in detail. The danger of confining ethical considerations to a committee or to one part of a project, including to the area of ethical legal and social implications of genomics is discussed, as are possible problems that might arise in the efforts to raise standards. Features of ethics discussed include: the link of ethics with universality, moral relativism, the aims of ethics and human well-being, the practical goals of ethics, moral motivation, the scope of ethics and precision in ethical argument, and the relation between ethics and other values especially the value of knowledge. A brief account is given of both reasoning in ethics and the relation between ethics and empirical work.