Sullivan Scott M
University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX 77006, USA.
Bioethics. 2007 Sep;21(7):386-97. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2007.00567.x.
In the Roman Catholic tradition the nature of the ordinary/extraordinary means distinction is best understood in light of its historical development. The moralist tradition that reared and nurtured this distinction implicitly developed a set of general criteria to distinguish the extraordinary from the ordinary. These criteria, conjoined with the context within which they were understood, can play an important role in refereeing the contemporary debate over the aggressiveness of medical treatment and the extent of one's moral obligation.
在罗马天主教传统中，普通/特殊手段区分的本质最好根据其历史发展来理解。孕育并培养了这种区分的道德主义传统隐含地发展出了一套区分特殊与普通的一般标准。这些标准，连同其被理解的背景，在评判当代关于医疗积极程度和个人道德义务范围的辩论中可以发挥重要作用。
