Bioethics: beyond the boundaries of disciplines

The extension of our moral horizon beyond spatial and temporal boundaries constitutes a significant stage in the development of an authentically human ethic. The guiding idea is that of the expanding circle, i.e. a circle that gradually widens to encompass ever larger and more intertwined areas, in a planetary dimension. In such a vision, the challenge posed to bioethics should be the elaboration of an ethic of responsibility on a global scale as the only one adequate to address the crucial problems of survival for a humanity understood as a community of destiny. The challenges posed by the complexity of the current social context call for an education geared towards the development of transversal skills through a constant multi and interdisciplinary approach and with the aid of a plurality of conceptual and methodological tools. The authors describe what they experienced when teaching doctors and dentists on a joint training course at the University of Genoa.