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Bioethics Diary
Bioethics Diary is the CEB’s space for shorter, accessible contributions on bioethical issues. With a simpler submission process than academic articles, it encourages timely reflection, debate and civic engagement on the ethical questions shaping contemporary life.


Five beneficences for a post-biological era
Post-biological beneficence does not grant moral status to every machine. Instead, it proposes a bioethics capable of addressing non-biological systems that already shape human life, agency and vulnerability. From instrumental benefit to artificial relationships, critical infrastructures, autonomous agency and possible artificial welfare, bioethics must guide technology before harms become irreversible.
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May 1516 min read


Neuroplasticity, Identity, Freedom: A Contemporary Neuroethical Perspective
A neuroplasticidade representa simultaneamente uma oportunidade terapêutica extraordinária e um desafio antropológico sem precedentes. O futuro da investigação neurocientífica dependerá da capacidade de articular inovação científica, responsabilidade moral e proteção da dignidade humana.
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May 1210 min read


Attack drones, autonomy and lethal decision-making: the Portuguese case and the ethical limits of technological warfare.
Loitering munitions make a decisive tension visible: technology can increase precision, but it can also distance the human agent from the moral decision to kill. The ethical question is not merely whether the weapon is effective or legal, but whether it preserves real human judgment, clear responsibility, and democratic limits on lethal force.
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May 118 min read


Medical AI, clinical decision-making, and patient autonomy: from assisted decision-making to algorithmic co-clinic.
Medical AI is no longer merely a support tool: it is beginning to become a third presence in the consultation. Between doctor, patient, and algorithmic co-clinician, autonomy requires more than consent. It requires understanding, contestation, alternatives, and human responsibility, so that the patient remains the author of the decision affecting their health, body, and future.
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May 910 min read


Health data, privacy, and consent: the autonomy lost when data starts circulating.
Health data are not merely information: they are sensitive fragments of the person. Their secondary use can improve research, public policy, and clinical innovation, but it requires privacy, understandable consent, fiduciary governance, and continuous transparency. Without post-consent autonomy, technical data protection may coexist with the ethical loss of the person.
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Apr 3011 min read
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