An immunitary genealogy

Abstract

"Briefly exploring the historical context and the main topics of bioethics, this article argues that the subject has its own way of coping, which is characterized by a mechanism that operates in pursuit of human selfpreservation through the continue discussion on the attributes that define humans. This mechanism – which is central and unifies the discipline’s heterogeneity of concepts and moral perspectives - is contextualized in a broader horizon of meaning, which Esposito calls the paradigm of immunization. Finally, the article indicates possible contributions that the immune interpretive key can offer to bioethics, regarding the tensions within the field and the descriptive and normative functions of bioethics."