3. Research Ethics all the Way Down

In this chapter, I suggest a rapprochement of bioethics and the philosophy of science, specifically philosophy of biology. I describe the case of Paolo Macchiarini and what we can learn about research ethics. I use the ideas of Mary Midgley about philosophical plumbing to argue that getting the concepts right in science and helping scientists get the context right is the first ethical step in science. Hence, the practices of philosophers of science and bioethics are not so different, although there seems to be a wide gap between these disciplines.