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Bioethical Pluralism and Complementarity
- Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 45, Number 3, Summer 2002
- pp. 338-349
- 10.1353/pbm.2002.0047
- Article
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This essay presents complementarity as a novel feature of bioethical pluralism. First introduced by Neils Bohr in conjunction with quantum physics, complementarity in bioethics occurs when different perspectives account for equally important features of a situation but are mutually exclusive. Unlike conventional approaches to bioethical pluralism, which attempt in one fashion or another to isolate and choose between different perspectives, complementarity accepts all perspectives. As a result, complementarity results in a state of holistic, dynamic tension, rather than one that yields singular or final moral judgments.