Between universalism and relativism:
A conceptual exploration of problems in formulating and applying international biomedical ethical guidelines
By G B Tangwa
J Med Ethics 2004;30:63–67. doi: 10.1136/jme.2003.003194
In this paper, the author attempts to explore some of the problems connected with the formulation and application of international biomedical ethical guidelines, with particular reference to Africa. Recent attempts at revising and updating some international medical ethical guidelines have been bedevilled by intractable controversies and wrangling regarding both the content and formulation. From the vantage position of relative familiarity with both African and Western contexts, and the privilege of having been involved in the revision and updating of one of the international ethical guidelines, the author reflects broadly on these issues and attempts prescribing an approach from both the theoretical and practical angles liable to mitigate, if not completely eliminate, some of the problems and difficulties.
Problems that arise with the formulation of
biomedical ethical guidelines are mainly
conceptual and theoretical, whereas those
that arise with application of such guidelines are
mainly practical and procedural. At the first
level, there is the need to capture clearly in
concepts and language an ethical imperative and,
at the second level, there is the need to translate
an ethical rule or recommendation into concrete
action within a specific time and place.
To say that it is morally right or wrong to do or
refrain from doing something is to imply that it
is so under all other similar circumstances,
irrespective of place, time, and sociocultural
context. Moral norms/rules may, of course, be
expressed in, mixed with, or reflected in laws,
societal customs, cultural practices, taboos, etiquette,
and so on. But all these differ from moral
norms/rules proper in that they are—by their
very nature and raison d’etre—context bound. A
law, for instance, has no jurisdiction and no
applicability outside of its area of sovereignty.


















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