“Principles of Biomedical Ethics”: un bilancio

The latest edition of Beauchamp and Childress’ Principles of Biomedical Ethics presents principlism in its definitive version and develops most explicitly the theory of com- mon morality: on one side, in its two pillars of norms and virtues, on the other in the peculi- ar epistemic structure of a modified coherentism. This account fully replies to the objections raised by defenders of virtue ethics and the ethics of care, providing room for the considera- tion of character traits, moral ideals and supererogation. Less convincing is the way in which the two authors have replied to the charges of scarce action-guidingness and of a lack of theoretical unification in their theory