There are four main traditions that inform our current consensus statements on medical ethics. These are the virtue ethics of ancient Greece, the Judaeo-Christian tradition, deontology and utilitarianism. Feminist writers see all four of these traditions as stemming from a specifically masculine conception of human identity. Feminist writers offer a different ethic stemming from a feminine identity. This paper examines these claims, and suggests a way forward that values both female and male concepts of the human good within moral debate.
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