Do students need explicit reference to philosophical terms like deontology, utilitarianism etc?
A possible analogy is Medawar’s (1967) discussion of the characteristics of the “good ecologist”. Back in the 1960s, an ecologist would not be required to know anything about molecular biology, but Medawar felt that the best ecologists would be those who felt a need to probe beyond the immediate confines of their core subject. So, a technical knowledge of philosophical terms and reasoning is not essential for an introduction to bioethical discussions, but it will be valuable for anyone who wants to go deeper by reading philosophers’ discussions of topics such as animal rights. In addition, science students are used to having to master technical vocabulary and learning some of the terms of philosophy may help them to appreciate that ethics is not simply a matter of personal opinion.
