The Ideal and Non-Ideal in Bioethics

This open access book adopts two approaches developed in political philosophy, "ideal" and "non-ideal" theory, to develop a new approach to bioethics. It argues that both ideal theory and non-ideal theory may be preferable depending on the situation. On this basis, it proposes a new decision-making approach using five criteria to analyze different situations and to decide which one to choose. This approach is introduced theoretically and considered practically using current examples like reproductive rights, the Covid pandemic, or the feminist analysis practice of vulnerability and relational autonomy. This book is of interest to researchers, students, and practitioners in the fields of bioethics, medical ethics, public health, and gender studies.