Many of the early figures in the bioethics movement were scholars in the field of religion, and in the several intervening decades bioethics has largely fallen into the hands of scholars trained in other disciplines. [Scientist] Robert Morison once wrote that as late as 1981 the developing field of bioethics was still more dominated by theologians than by secular philosophers. I doubt if such dominance still existed even then; certainly it does no longer. Indeed, [Hastings Center founder] Daniel Callahan has suggested that bioethics gained public acceptance by pushing religion aside (even if unintentionally). In its place he detects movement toward "a different kind of moral language in the mainstream of public policy, toward a language of rights" that seeks "moral consensus . . . in the face of a diverse cultural situation." Bioethics may need to return to its earlier self, expanding its horizons and no longer understanding its function chiefly in terms of social consensus.

This will mean, in part, inviting back those "alternative imaginations" that religious communities and theological traditions provide. The same principles that Beauchamp and Childress [in their book, Principles of Biomedical Ethics] put forward may still often shape our discussion, but they will take on new resonance. The selves whose autonomy we respect will be understood as grounded in community and in relation to God. The imperatives of beneficence may sometimes seem too minimal. Our sense of justice will be constantly reshaped by concern for those who are weak and cannot speak in their own behalf. Of course, such approaches may sometimes ask more of our fellow citizens than is possible, or more than we ourselves can always be persuaded to undertake, but at least we will not have begun our reflection with the intent of seeking no more than public policy currently envisions. If compromise and adjustment are necessary in our common life, that can and should be left to the processes of democratic governance—a politics that, because it does not claim our souls, paradoxically can allow matters of the soul into public argument.

From Body, Soul, and Bioethics by Gilbert C. Meilaender. ©1995 by the University of Notre Dame Press. Used by permission of the publisher.