Biomedical innovations are making possible the enhancement of human capabilities. There are two philosophical stances
on the role that medicine should play in this respect. On the one hand, naturalism rejects every medical intervention that
goes beyond preventing and treating disease. On the other hand, welfarism advocates enhancements that foster subjective
well-being. We will show that both positions have considerable shortcomings. Consequently, we will introduce a third characterization in which therapies and enhancements can be reconciled with the legitimate objectives of medicine inasmuch as
they improve the capabilities that enable the freedom to pursue personal well-being.
