Thinker · TH-0410
Tom L. Beauchamp
Tom L. Beauchamp is an American philosopher at Georgetown University and its Kennedy Institute of Ethics, and a scholar of David Hume. With the…
On the Coordinates: 3.3.1 Bioethics and Medical Ethics
Also known as Tom Beauchamp, Beauchamp and Childress
1939 – 2025 · Washington, D.C. (Georgetown University, Kennedy Institute of Ethics)
Traditions: Analytic
Tom L. Beauchamp is an American philosopher at Georgetown University and its Kennedy Institute of Ethics, and a scholar of David Hume. With the theologian James F. Childress he wrote Principles of Biomedical Ethics, which set out the four-principles framework of respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence and justice. Through many editions the book became a standard reference in clinical and research ethics, presenting the principles as mid-level norms to be specified and balanced in particular cases rather than derived from one theory.
Key ideas
- Biomedical ethics can be organised around four principles: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence and justice.
- The principles are prima facie and must be specified and balanced in particular cases.
- The principles draw support from a common morality shared across ethical theories.
- Informed consent rests on understanding and voluntariness, not a signature alone.
Major works
- Principles of Biomedical Ethics (1979, with James F. Childress; many later editions)
- A History and Theory of Informed Consent (1986, with Ruth R. Faden)
In the conversation
- Debate Deemed consent for organ donation respects the donor’s autonomy, not only the waiting list
- Question What are the ‘four principles’ of medical ethics, and what do you do when they conflict?
- Debate The four-principles framework is too individualist for family-centred medicine
In the Coordinates
The questions of philosophy where Tom L. Beauchamp takes a place, from The Coordinates of Thought.
- 3.3.1 Bioethics and Medical Ethics Who counts, who decides, and who gets it?