Autonomy, Dignity, Beneficence, and Justice

Abstract

Much of our concern in the field of applied ethics has to do with the central principles of modern medical ethics. As it turns out, the ethos of science also demands that we abide by these same principles. At the outset of this book, I described the emergence of modern applied ethics, its origins in philosophical ethical theory, and the development of post-Nuremberg principles, codes, and institutions. Now we will explore a bit more in depth the nature of these major ethical principles as applied to human subject research. Norms that have been largely developed after World War II demand that human subjects be treated according to certain, basic ethical principles, including: autonomy, dignity, beneficence, and justice. In this chapter I discuss these principles briefly, and provide an argument for their adherence to and emergence from norms of scientific behavior generally.