Laboratory of Rationality and Applied Ethics

The Laboratory of Rationality and Applied Ethics is a project that, since May 2019, works under the institutional environment of the Centre for Classical and Humanistic Studies of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra. Its main goal is the interdisciplinary discussion of practical cases that illustrate ethically complex situations, particularly in hospital ethics. The Laboratory promotes several activities open to the public, such as lectures, seminars, and debates, along with a monthly meeting of the Observatory, which consists of members from various academic backgrounds (Philosophy, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy and Health Sciences) holding interdisciplinary discussions on practical cases in clinical ethics. It is then produced a joint report, written by the Observatory’s members, with the meeting’s results on the ethical, medical, and legal issues found in the case discussed.

After an initial period of the Laboratory’s implementation within the Ethics and Health axis, from September 2021, an extension of the Laboratory’s activity to the area of Institutional Ethics is on the way.