Characteristics of development of modern western medical ethics

The paper reviews the development of Western medical ethics during 17-19th centuries. The transformation of the theories of the medical ethics from ancient to modern took place in the period because of the changes of social construction and medical care. The modern philosophical and ethical theories provided a powerful backing for the medical ethics. What is medicine and what is a physician's proper role were again defined against the background. So the medical ethics had some new characters in the period, including the increase of government's duty for people's health care, resurrection of virtue, the establishing of professional ethical code, and the birth of the civil right for health care.