Abstract
How philosophy and social sciences are reconcilable in the field of bioethics has long been a disputed theme. The former tries to find universal values among different human beings, believing there should be, whereas the latter presupposes diversity of values and morals among the different people of the world. The notions of informed consent and autonomy in bioethics, originating in the US, have now been disseminated to other parts of the world. But are they to be applied universally to every moral situation and to all people who have notions of family, community, illness etc quite apart from those in the west? This paper provides criticisms from social scientists toward traditional bioethics, saying that it fails to provide social and cultural contexts surrounding ethical dilemmas. If bioethics is to be seen as providing health care ethics based on "universal" human values, it should also accommodate the particular values and needs of those who have been underrepresented up until now. One way to mediate between a particular human culture and a universal ethical framework would be to employ ethnography as a means to reflect upon its own cultural assumptions and eventually fill in the gaps between cultural particulars and universal human values.
