The parade of abstracts continues. "Libertarian Bioethics and Religion: The Case of H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr." is a paper by Michael S. Merry originally published in Bioethics in September 2004. Why am I intrigued by this abstract?
The abstract reads as follows: "This paper is a critique of certain moral perspectives that are found in the second edition of Engelhardt's Foundation of Bioethics. These views are spelled out in explicit detail in his second edition, and follow on the heels of a profound religious conversion. Engelhardt is an eminent bioethicist with strong religious convictions that overlay much of his writing. The author wishes to question some of the conclusions that Engelhardt reaches as they touch upon moral frameworks, pluralism, and a 'secular' bioethics."
My interest is piqued by the contrast between the title of the paper and the contents of the abstract. The paper title explicitly links libertarian bioethics and religion. The abstract does not link libertarian bioethics and religion, unless a reader is expected to automatically view Engelhardt's "moral perspectives" as the definitive expression of libertarian bioethics. I, a genuine libertarian bioethicist, disagree with that notion.
Also, as an atheist libertarian bioethicist, I disavow any fundamental link between libertarian bioethics and religion. One can be religious and a libertarian bioethicist but one is not required to be religious to be a libertarian bioethicist. My existence disproves that absurd idea.
I guess I have another paper to review. Hopefully a close reading of the paper will answer a few of my queries. I doubt it.
The abstract reads as follows: "This paper is a critique of certain moral perspectives that are found in the second edition of Engelhardt's Foundation of Bioethics. These views are spelled out in explicit detail in his second edition, and follow on the heels of a profound religious conversion. Engelhardt is an eminent bioethicist with strong religious convictions that overlay much of his writing. The author wishes to question some of the conclusions that Engelhardt reaches as they touch upon moral frameworks, pluralism, and a 'secular' bioethics."
My interest is piqued by the contrast between the title of the paper and the contents of the abstract. The paper title explicitly links libertarian bioethics and religion. The abstract does not link libertarian bioethics and religion, unless a reader is expected to automatically view Engelhardt's "moral perspectives" as the definitive expression of libertarian bioethics. I, a genuine libertarian bioethicist, disagree with that notion.
Also, as an atheist libertarian bioethicist, I disavow any fundamental link between libertarian bioethics and religion. One can be religious and a libertarian bioethicist but one is not required to be religious to be a libertarian bioethicist. My existence disproves that absurd idea.
I guess I have another paper to review. Hopefully a close reading of the paper will answer a few of my queries. I doubt it.
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