On the Public Role of Ethics Experts

Abstract

Moral philosophers are increasingly active as members of ethical boards and committees dealing with questions of principle in the supervision of research and in advice to political bodies in morally sensitive areas of medicine, the protection of the environment, and the protection of animals. The problem is that there is a fundamental unclarity about what is expected of the moral philosopher in these bodies. What exact role is the "ethics expert" supposed to fulfill and what role should he ascribe to himself? And is there such a thing as an "ethics expert" at all? The paper is an attempt at answering these and some other related, but equally pressing questions.