Moral craft: engaging with value pluralism in healthcare decision-making

Journal article

Healthcare professionals routinely navigate complex value conflicts that span personal, interpersonal, and organisational domains. This paper examines the concept of moral craftsmanship—the skilled practice of understanding, analysing, and working through value conflicts in healthcare settings—and argues that value pluralism provides a more realistic framework for healthcare ethics than approaches seeking overarching moral consensus. Through analysis of cases spanning clinical genetics, paediatric end-of-life care, and institutional resource allocation, the paper explores how value conflicts manifest across interconnected domains and explores the practical reasoning processes through which healthcare professionals successfully navigate seemingly intractable moral disagreements. Drawing on examples from clinical genetics counselling and recent analyses of dissensus in paediatric care, the paper argues that deep value pluralism is compatible with reasoned decision-making and that moral craftsmanship represents an essential skill for effective healthcare practice. Oversimplified ethical frameworks risk creating dangerous gaps between institutional processes and lived moral experience, potentially undermining public trust in healthcare systems. Healthcare institutions must develop approaches that acknowledge genuine value plurality while supporting practical decision-making, maintaining mechanisms for incorporating diverse public values, and addressing the moral residue that persists beyond immediate decisions.

Authors: Parker, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer
• Journal: Monash Bioethics Review
• Volume: 43
• Issue: Suppl 1
• Pages: 5-14
• Publication date: 2025-10-13
• Acceptance date: 2025-10-01
• DOI: 10.1007/s40592-025-00266-x
• EISSN: 1836-6716
• ISSN: 1321-2753
• Language: English
• Keywords: Medical decision-making; Value conflict; Professional ethics; Moral craftsmanship; Value pluralism; Healthcare ethics