The foundations and the development of modern medical ethics

Modern bioethics is based on a pluralistic and multidisciplinary approach, deriving its sources from medicine, biology, philosophy, law, theology, social and behavioral sciences, and history. The moral foundation of modern biomedical ethics is based upon four prima facie principles: respect of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice. This approach, however, has been seriously criticized and challenged. A wide range of issues is discussed and debated in biomedical ethics. Several causes have intensified the recent flourishing of medical ethics: The enormous advancements in scientific and technological knowledge; the intense and widespread interest in bioethics by professionals as well as by the public at large; and the wide sociocultural and economic changes in western society, and in the conduct of medicine. The objectives of clinical medical ethics is outlined in the article.