Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.10.22
Which areas of questions does medical ethics deal with?
Eight areas: (1) theory and methods of moral judgement, (2) public health ethics, (3) beginning of life, (4) end of life, (5) handling of human material, (6) actors in medicine (doctor-patient relationship), (7) research ethics, (8) new technologies and future scenarios.
| # | Area | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Theoretical and methodological questions | clinical decision-making; concepts such as health, disease, life, death, dignity, autonomy; role of ethics committees |
| 2 | Public health ethics | justice in health care; resource allocation (local to global); two-class medicine vs. basic care; prevention vs. autonomy |
| 3 | Beginning of life | preimplantation and prenatal diagnosis; reproductive medicine (e.g. social freezing); abortion; reproductive cloning; surrogacy |
| 4 | End of life | assisted suicide; euthanasia; advance directives; long-term care |
| 5 | Handling human material | organ donation; biobanks; the body as research object |
| 6 | Actors in medicine | professional ethics of doctors and nurses; informed consent; autonomy vs. paternalism |
| 7 | Research ethics | stem cells; therapeutic cloning; research with people who lack capacity (e.g. children); globalised research |
| 8 | New technologies | genetic screening; gene therapy; enhancement; transhumanism |
A rough memory aid: the list moves from thinking (1) to society (2), along a life from start to end (3, 4), to the body and the people involved (5, 6), and out to research and the future (7, 8).
Go deeper:
Wikipedia: Medical ethics — overview of the field's main issues.