structural:reformatting, structural:expansion
Imperative

Fritz Jahr describes bioethics as ultimately made up of "academic discipline, principle, and virtue". This echoes back to the influence Socrates has on the norms of bioethics and its practices. Jahr utilizes Kant's Categorical Imperative to demonstrate the obligatory, yet innately human practice of the Bioethical Imperative:

he guiding principle for our actions is the Bioethical Imperative: Respect every living being in general as an end in itself, and treat it if possible, as such

as it arises in the relationships not only between people, but also with plants and other animal species. Jahr believes that in order to practice bioethics, one must be in solidarity with all forms of life. If one only decides to be in solidarity in humans, then one should not behave virtuously in any manner.