Meaning and medicine: An underexplored bioethical value

Since the origin of bioethics as a discipline, the field has been dominated by consideration of two main values, well-being and morality. I cast doubt on whether those are sufficient to resolve an array of important debates about which decisions to make in respect of medicine, and I also consider whether a third, under-explored value should play a much larger role. I provide reason to believe that the value of what makes a life meaningful is essential to being able to provide conclusive judgements about several contentious matters in bioethics. After first indicating how meaningfulness plausibly differs from rig…