Vasile MORAR
ABSTRACT :
This paper explores the fundamental relationship between ethics and biomedicine, emphasizing their shared concern for the protection, preservation, and promotion of human life. Drawing on classical and contemporary ethical perspectives, the study highlights life as the common foundation of both disciplines, from birth through existence to death. The discussion refers to the moral principles established in the Hippocratic tradition, as well as philosophical reflections on the human condition, illustrating the ethical significance of life and mortality. Furthermore, the paper examines the descriptive, explanatory, and normative dimensions that ethics and biomedicine share in understanding health, disease, and human well-being. Particular attention is given to the theoretical relationship between medical ethics and moral philosophy, focusing on the fundamental ethical question of how human life should be lived. The analysis compares the two major ethical frameworks relevant to biomedical practice: deontological ethics, grounded in duty and the equal value of every human life, and teleological ethics, particularly utilitarianism, which evaluates moral decisions according to their consequences and the pursuit of the greatest good for the greatest number. By examining these complementary and, at times, conflicting ethical approaches, the paper demonstrates their relevance to medical decision-making and clinical practice, emphasizing the necessity of integrating ethical principles into contemporary biomedical sciences.
Keywords: ethics, biomedicine, bioethics, medical deontology, deontological ethics.