Etica pubblica e Bioetica del fine vita: riflessioni su un possibile confronto

Public Ethics deals with the normative justification of public institutions’ decisions and professional ethics. These meanings of public ethics can be compared and an incisive example concerns cure and care and the role of health care professionals. Issues such as the distribution of rights and resources or the development of a cost effective health care system are compared with care and doctor-patient relationship - that are traditional topics of applied ethics and a private space. A broad definition of bioethics has public implications. The end of life issues are significant for the attempt to outline a reflection on bioethics and public ethics. Dying, death and the physician-patient relationship require a theoretical analysis of their meaning and role in a public space conditioned by techno-scientific innovations. Dying and death are not just a private issue, they have a big impact on a set of social, political economic and legal matters