Ethics as a way of life Reconnecting bioethics with everyday moral life

Bioethics, now an established academic field, emerged in the early 1980s as a response to the limitations of traditional medical ethics as a practice by and for healthcare professionals. While this shift toward academic institutionalization has enriched and strengthened ethical inquiry and may have improved decision-making on complex ethical issues, it has also led to a problematic disconnection of ethics from everyday life and practice. This chapter discusses living ethics as a response to this disconnection. It explores ethics as a way of life, which emphasizes ethics as an evolving part of daily interactions and human engagement. Furthermore, it presents participatory research methodologies that align with reintegrating ethical reflection with everyday moral lives.