Tom Beauchamp and James Childress have always maintained that their four principles approach (otherwise known as principlism) is a globally applicable framework for biomedical ethics. This claim is grounded in their belief that the principles of respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice form part of a 'common morality', or collection of very general norms to which everyone ...

Careful analysis of the ethics of research on mechanisms of aging needs to recognize the complexity of human biology. Many contemporary bioethicists and policy-makers are exploring the ethics of ‘anti-aging’ interventions; however, current ethical analysis of biomedical research into disease processes and aging mechanisms is dominated by hyperbolic commentary. Numerous analyses in the bioethics...