The LAB Collab is a multidisciplinary, inter-institutional research group which exmaines ethics issues in clinical care, clinical research, and medical training with a focus on language and communication.
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This work-in-progress talk will present the second stage of a line of conceptual work focused on drawing out the bioethical implications of a pragmatic view of language. Dr. Clapp will examine how bioethics conceives of 'values' and 'preferences', making the case that: (a) the field sees them as mental features or contents; (b) this understanding of values and preferences is the result of a representational view of language, that is, one that sees language as essentially a way to describe things in the world. He will demonstrate some problems with this conception. Then, drawing on a pragmatic view of language, he will suggest a different model of values and preferences, one that sees them not as mental entities but rather as social statuses. Dr. Clapp will briefly touch on how this model reframes bioethical concerns.