The principles of bioethics in teaching: difficulties and proposal

Abstract

It is common base the teaching of bioethics on the learning of the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice, widely used today. In terms of ethical practice, these principles suffer from a notable inadequacy, leaving aside their ambiguity and other problems. Nevertheless, as a teaching method, they show a special incongruity, for several reasons: a) little adequacy of the terms to the concepts that want to be expressed, b) formalism that hinders the approach to reality, c) little adaptation to the needs of the student and d) be specialized terms in a field that should be fundamentally informative. These four limitations, which advise another approach in the teaching of bioethics, are examined in detail; a final reflection is provided on the difference between the principles of bioethics and ethics.