Science educators have appropriated many meanings for the phrase "scientific literacy". This paper advances an argument that in order to maintain the usefulness of such a malleable phrase, its users must explicitly address the context of its use. Based on the vision of science education articulated in standards documents from the United States and abroad, this paper advances a conception of scientific literacy which involves the negotiation of socioscientific issues. In other words, becoming scientifically literate requires, at least in part, the ability to make informed decisions regarding socioscientific issues. Central to socioscientific issues are moral and ethical implications; therefore, the promotion of scientific literacy requires curricular attention to the moral and ethical implications of socioscientific issues. The paper reviews how the Science-Technology- Society movement has addressed socioscientific decision-making and outlines an alternative approach that more explicitly focuses on the moral and ethical implications of socioscientific issues. (Author)