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The idea of autonomy has been emphasized in North American bioethics, understood mainly as non- interference in the decision-making of individuals. This "legal" concept of autonomy, which defends self-determination, is insufficient and partial. From a European Mediterranean perspective, autonomy can be understood not only as an exercise of freedom, but also as something that has to do with context, circumstances and relationship with others. For this reason, this paper proposes a vision of a Mediterranean autonomy from three categories: narrative, relational and careful. In this proposal we rely on Paul Ricoeur's re-reading of the concept of autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic has placed us in a situation of estrangement from ourselves. We have been acutely aware of our vulnerability and fragility. Through the stories of lived experiences, we have learned about and witnessed tragic circumstances in which inhospitality and neglect have become evident. We have been shocked by the awareness of the lack of recognition, accompaniment and welcome. Institutional decisions have prioritized public health, the good for all, but have forgotten the biographies of people, full of suffering. And this has produced a moral damage, a loss of trust, a feeling of injustice that we have not been able to fight against. This is why it is necessary to build hospitality, which can be achieved through care. Care with a political dimension that takes charge of reality and transforms society. The key is a responsibility in solidarity. Faced with the possibility of dehumanizing ourselves, we seek hospitality as an alternative way of narrating lives that have to be reconstructed, that have to relearn how to take care of each other amidst the multiple possibilities of estrangement that threaten us. Hospitality is at the heart of a narrative ethics at the height of our times., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.