Diary

Carl Elliott

At dinner after a recent meeting about ethics and genetics, a guest told me that he had never been to a conference of bioethicists before. The person next to him sat up straight, as if insulted, and said: ‘But I’m not a bioethicist.’ They turned to me. ‘Don’t look at me,’ I said. ‘I’m no bioethicist.’ We asked the other guests at the table, and while the verdict was not unanimous, many said no, they didn’t really consider themselves bioethicists either. To an outsider, it must have seemed an odd response. Most of those present work in bioethics centres, publish in bioethics journals, belong to bioethics associations and write books with the word ‘bioethics’ prominently displayed on the covers. I do many of those things myself.