Principlism

Principlism is an approach to biomedical ethics that uses autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice as practical principles for analyzing moral problems.

Respect for autonomy: The ethical principle that recognizes people’s authority to make informed, voluntary decisions about their own lives and bodies. It protects patients’ decision-making authority within principlism.
Prima facie duty: A moral duty that applies unless outweighed by a stronger duty in a particular situation. The principles function as defeasible obligations rather than absolute rules.
Beauchamp and Childress: American bioethicists Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress, known for developing a four-principle framework in biomedical ethics. Their work established the best-known formulation of principlism.
Casuistry: An approach to moral reasoning that analyzes cases by comparison with paradigmatic examples. It starts from concrete cases rather than applying a general set of principles.
Beneficence: The ethical principle of acting to promote another person’s welfare. It directs clinicians to consider how care can benefit patients.
Informed consent: A process in which a person voluntarily agrees to an intervention after receiving relevant information and understanding it. It is a common way to apply respect for autonomy in clinical practice.
Principles of Biomedical Ethics: A book by Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress first published in 1979. It set out the framework that became central to principlism.
Care ethics: An ethical approach that emphasizes relationships, dependency, and attentive care. It challenges frameworks that give less explicit weight to relationships and care.
Non-maleficence: The ethical principle of avoiding or minimizing harm to others. It focuses attention on harms that beneficial interventions may also cause.
Risk–benefit analysis: A method for comparing the likely harms and benefits of an action or intervention. It helps assess beneficence and non-maleficence together.

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