Abstract

The philosophical use of cases in biomedical ethics is here recalled for more careful consideration. While it is primarily focused on cases as part of moral reasoning in medical ethics, the thesis pursued is also significant for other areas of applied ethics and for normative ethical theory in general. ;This work attends mainly to case use in the works of Robert M. Veatch, Tom L. Beauchamp, and Colleen D. Clements, but also takes note of Albert Jonsen and Stephen Toulmin's proposal in The Abuse of Casuistry. These various methodologies of case use are described, analyzed, and criticized, not with regard to their rhetorical or pedagogical intent, but in terms of their attempt to offer cases as evidence for moral conclusions. Constructively, the thesis offers a historical and discipline oriented analysis of the case concept and draws on Aristotle's discussion of reasoning with examples to provide a foundation for a more adequate theory of case use