Pardon my asking: do we need eMinence-based bioethics?

" (V)irtue would be neither an inborn quality nor taught, but comes to those who possess it as a gift from the gods which is not accompanied by understanding , unless there is someone among our states-men who can make another into a statesman. If there was one, he could be said to be among the living as Homer said Tiresias was among the dead, namely, that 'he alone retained his wits while the others flitted about like shadows'. In the same manner such a man would, as far as virtue is concerned, here also be the only true reality compared, as it were, with shadows " [1]. " Prophets are never recognised in their own country ; an expert is someone who travels a long distance and brings their own slides " [2]. During the last two months I have attended two congresses and one series of lectures on the ethics of research involving human subjects. Of a total of about twenty speakers, twelve showed a slide with an identical list of seven criteria " to make human research ethical ". The criteria were published several years ago by three eminent experts as a " Special communication " in one of the world's most respected medical journals (maximum Impact Factor). It is probably unnecessary to name the journal: both medical researchers and ethicists will probably have recognized it. The criteria are (unanimously and rightly) recognized as sound. I agree: they summarize the basic ethical requirements that are absolutely necessary in all medical research. The three authors of the " Special communication " are (unanimously and rightly) recognized as eminent ethicists throughout the world. I agree: they have published excellent works. However, the repetition of the same slide with the same " Seven Commandments " (my definition) raises at least two questions. 1) What kind of ethics is useful for researchers? The debate on the foundation of ethics is absolutely necessary and cannot be abandoned: we need sound anthropological foundations as a basis for ethical evaluation. Nevertheless, researchers also need practical guidelines. 2) What would have happened if an unknown researcher had submitted the same seven criteria to the same leading journal? The seven criteria are exactly the same that have been repeated in every code, declaration or convention on medical ethics (since Nuremberg) and are the same found in the first chapter of every manual on medical ethics. Let …