Purpose/Context.

The article reviews central concepts of contemporary feminist proposals in order to offer philosophical, epistemological and political analyses useful for the foundation and practice of contemporary bioethics. It seeks to deepen and problematize central concepts of bioethical theories such as autonomy, justice and vulnerability from a perspective anchored in an understanding of social phenomena and subjectivities as immersed in a complex web of power structures.

Methodology/Approach.

The text is formulated from a philosophical and analytical perspective that builds a thread of concepts and categories for the revision and enrichment of some fundamentals of contemporary bioethics. Diverse sources of feminist theories, philosophical theories and political proposals are used to construct a way of situating oneself epistemologically and politically in the face of the bioethical problems of the so-called feminist perspective.

Results/Findings.

It is proposed that the adoption of a feminist perspective for bioethics should be understood not as a reduced set of women's problems, nor as a simple inclusion of women in bioethical discussions, but as the adoption of a way of situating, observing and analyzing social phenomena and bioethical problems from an understanding of the structural causes of oppressions, which conceives gender, race, social class, sexual orientation, disability and other axes of difference, as central categories of analysis.

Discussion/Conclusions/Contributions.

The adoption of a feminist perspective implies a critical review of the foundations of the field, particularly of principlism as the most widespread version, making visible some of its limitations and problematic consequences. It also leads to an epistemological review of the knowledge involved in the field and its deliberative practices, pointing out the importance of addressing the conditions that prevent or hinder the fulfillment of the political commitment of bioethics as a pluralistic and transformative space for societies.

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