Ageing: from bioethics to social ethics.

This paper presents an ample discussion of ageing, seen both as a physiologic process and as a cultural construction. When tackling the issue of ageing, the Western world sways between two conflicting but intertwined perspectives: the first one is tied to the medicalisation of ageing subjects while the second is linked to the “time of life”. Demographic data on ageing in the world show that the situation is much more varied than usually thought. While causes of death vary dramatically, it is simply not true that ageing poses problems in the developed world only: demographic changes, economic transitions, migration and emigrations all contribute to the rapid reshaping of relationships between generations, cultures and genders in all cultures. Today, economic pressures and the need to reshape an old frame of mind impose a general rethinking of age and ageing, and call for the setting of some minimal common policies based on quality of life, on active ageing and on equal access to resources.