Abstract
Medical ethicists aim and claim to formulate universal ethical principles that are simultaneously necessary and sufficient. Medical historians however, have made us aware of the fact that biomedical theories and principles are always developed in specific historical contexts. Rather than unilaterally acting upon medical practice, such theories and principles are taken to interact with and to be shaped by local scientific, social and cultural factors. As such, medical historians may have something significant to contribute to medical ethics. Surprisingly, however, this perspective has not been brought to bear on the increasingly important field of medical ethics. The proposed research seeks to understand the development of medical ethics' intellectual paradigm in its interaction with local ethical practices, and in historical context. The formulation and formalization of clinical research ethics in the Netherlands after the Second World War will serve as a 'projection screen' for understanding how medico-ethical theory has historically interacted with medical practices in their local context. Understanding the relevance of global-local interrelations for the endeavour to formulate universal ethical guidelines will yield valuable insights for both historians and medical ethicists into the complexities and contingencies of developing medical ethical principles in a globalising world.