 This entry starts by addressing the complexities surrounding the very notions of bioethics and moral theory. From there, we explore the question of what doing applied ethics amounts to. Moving on, the discussion centers upon the main methodological movements in bioethics’ relatively short history: its appeal to high moral theory, the emergence of mid-level approaches to bioethics, and approaches to bioethics that attribute a lesser role to theoretical tools, or no role at all. Feminist approaches to bioethics are treated next, followed by a look at the significance of moral theory to clinical bioethics.