Moral Consensus as a Social and Philosophical Problem.- One / Philosophical Foundations.- Consensus: How Much Can We Hope for? A Conceptual Exploration Illustrated by Recent Debates Regarding the Use of Human Reproductive Technologies.- The Concept of Moral Consensus. Philosophical Reflections.- Consensus Formation for Bioethical Problems (Comments on Bayertz).- Consensus, Pluralism and Procedural Ethics (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt).- New Reproductive Technologies: Ethical Conflict and the Problem of Consensus (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt)..- Two / Consensus In Law And Politics.- Problems Involved in Achieving a Policy Consensus on Issues Related to Reproductive Medicine.- Moral Consensus and the Law (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt).- Coming to Consensus: An Ethical Problem in Law and Politics - Illustrated by the Example of Reproductive Technologies (Comments on Bayertz).- The Empirical Limits of Consensus: Can Theory and Practice be Reconciled? (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt, Moreno).- Three / Microinstitutions Of Consensus-Formation.- Consensus by Committee: Philosophical and Social Aspects of Ethics Committees.- Consensus in Ethics and Public Policy: The Deliberations of the U.S. Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel.- Consensus by Default. The Transition from the Social Technology of Eugenics to the "Technological-FIX" of Human Genetics.- Beyond Consensus About Principles: Decision-Making by a Genetics Advisory Board in Reproductive Medicine (Comments on Bayertz, Moreno).- "... and that is why I would like as few people to be involved as possible..." Observations on the Possibilities Offered by Consensus Achievement Within the Field of the Human Reproductive Technologies (Comments on Bayertz, Engelhardt, Moreno).- A SkepticalPostscript: Some Concluding Reflections on Consensus.- Notes on Contributors.

Autorentext
Kurt Bayertz, geboren 1948, lehrt als Professor für praktische Philosophie an der Universität Münster. Arbeitsschwerpunkte: Ethik, angewandte Ethik, Anthropologie und politische Philosophie.

Zusammenfassung
Focusing on the concept of consensus, this text reflects on the difficulties and complexity of moral decision-making, offers views on the problem of why decision-making does not take place more harmoniously and asks if there can be any hope of a solution.