The epistemological status of bioethics

Abstract

Bioethics, rather than a well-defined science, seems to more closely resemble a “field” of issues and problems that has been steadily expanding since the 70s. In the beginning, it essentially focused on medicine and biotechnology; but today includes other topics as well, such as animal care and environmental protection, health policies and bio-law. The recent and extremely significant progress in medical technology has produced several new moral problems that are not covered by traditional rules and general ethics. It is, however, possible, and even necessary, to take decisions regarding these new problems, and here resides the novelty and most valuable contribution of bioethics. The novelty also derives from the remarkable complexity of the more typical bioethical debates. For these reasons, bioethics could be presented as a paradigm of what ethics must constitute in the context of a technological civilization. It is a discipline that looks for a meeting point between technology and moral conscience. Given these fundamental characteristics, it is possible to sketch a special epistemological status for bioethics: this discipline adopts an interdisciplinary method based on a systemic approach as well as on the ability to cope with the phenomena of complexity. Thus, bioethics acquires a holistic point of view that allows for a connection between the simplest and most complex levels. Finally, we will show how bioethics takes advantage of the doctrinal and cultural differences brought about in our time by globalization.