In the Netherlands, various styles of applied ethical research can be distinguished. They have resulted in "best practices" that formerly regarded each other as competitive, but tend to see themselves as complementary in the early twenty-first century.

Two Preliminary Observations

A first general observation is historical. Twenty centuries ago, the border of the Roman Empire followed the Rhine, thus dissecting the area that later was to become the Netherlands into a southern part (inside the empire) and a northern and western part (outside the empire). This division has written itself into the Dutch cultural landscape in an astonishingly obstinate manner. It is still noticeable today, in terms of dialect, culture, manners, ethics, and religion. Whereas before the onset of secularization the south was predominantly Catholic (that is, oriented toward "Rome"), the north and west were predominantly Protestant.

This difference in cultural geography continues to be visible...