Avoiding “Cloudcuckooland” in Ethics Committee Case Review: Matching Models to Issues and Concerns

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Abstract
Two Athenians set out to found a city free from the sophistry, power struggles, and litigiousness of Athens in Aristophanes’ play, The Birds. Their creation is to stand as a shining example of a virtuous demos in which reasoned discourse will give birth to goals beneficial to the individual and the community. The city that emerges, “Cloudcuckooland,” turns out to be a replica of Athens, driven by a morality of self-interest and the lust for world conquest. Its founders’ dream fades in a maze of doubtful arguments, crippling red tape, and insatiable litigiousness. Even so, Aristophanes hints, the dream survives, for no Athenian can escape from the restless hubris that leads to daring creation.Special committees have been created in recent years to address difficult ethical issues in clinical care free from the bureaucratic amorality, professional friction, and litigiousness that can characterize problem-solving within health care institutions.

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