Shallow Dives

Medical ethicists Tom Beauchamp and James Childress developed four principles that guide difficult decisions: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. This framework has become the dominant approach in healthcare ethics and applies far beyond medicine.

A centuries-old ethical framework helps doctors, programmers, and policymakers navigate impossible choices where good actions produce harmful side effects. Understanding its four conditions reveals how we distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable harm.

In mass disasters, medical ethics flip upside down: doctors may skip critically injured patients to save those with moderate injuries first. This counterintuitive practice reveals how applied ethics demands different answers when resources collapse.