Bioethics

the limits of life manipulation

Abstract

The author examines the limits of human life manipulation from a plural, multidisciplinary and tolerant bioethical perspective, opposing the apocalyptic view that defines the twentieth century as the kingdom of death. It aims to demonstrate that the century was also the century of life, with scientific advances and the valorisation of health and dignity, and that ethics must accompany science as responsibility, not as authoritarian prohibition. It analyses the antagonistic tendencies between everything is permitted and conservative fear, proposing the principles of plurality, tolerance, responsibility and justice. It concludes that legal rules are necessary only in frontier zones, favouring cultural and moral progress.