This second edition of A Companion to Bioethics, fully revised and updated to reflect the current issues and developments in the field, covers all the material that the reader needs to thoroughly grasp the ideas and debates involved in bioethics. Thematically organized around an unparalleled range of issues, including discussion of the moral status of embryos and fetuses, new genetics, life and death, resource allocation, organ donations, AIDS, human and animal experimentation, health care, and teaching Now includes new essays on currently controversial topics such as cloning and genetic enhancement Topics are clearly and compellingly presented by internationally renowned bioethicists A detailed index allows the reader to find terms and topics not listed in the titles of the essays themselves
The Routledge Companion to Bioethics is a comprehensive reference guide to a wide range of contemporary concerns in bioethics. The volume orients the reader in a changing landscape shaped by globalization, health disparities, and rapidly advancing technologies. Bioethics has begun a turn toward a systematic concern with social justice, population health, and public policy. While also covering more traditional topics, this volume fully captures this recent shift and foreshadows the resulting developments in bioethics. It highlights emerging issues such as climate change, transgender, and medical tourism, and re-examines enduring topics, such as autonomy, end-of-life care, and resource allocation.
In this volume, some of today's most distinguished philosophers survey the whole field of ethics, from its origins, through the great ethical traditions, to theories of how we ought to live, arguments about specific ethical issues, and the nature of ethics itself. The book can be read straight through from beginning to end; yet the inclusion of a multi-layered index, coupled with a descriptive outline of contents and bibliographies of relevant literature, means that the volume also serves as a work of reference, both for those coming afresh to the study of ethics and for readers already familiar with the subject.
Applied or practical ethics is perhaps the largest growth area inphilosophy today, and many issues in moral, social, and politicallife have come under philosophical scrutiny in recent years. Takentogether, the essays in this volume – including two overviewessays on theories of ethics and the nature of applied ethics– provide a state-of-the-art account of the most pressingmoral questions facing us today. Provides a comprehensive guide to many of the most significantproblems of practical ethics Offers state-of-the-art accounts of issues in medical,environmental, legal, social, and business ethics Written by major philosophers presently engaged with thesecomplex and profound ethical issues
Contemporary bioethics, now roughly 40 years old as a discipline, originated in the United States with a primarily Anglo-American cultural ethos. It continues to be professionalized and institutionalized as a maturing discipline at the intersections of philosophy, medicine, law, social sciences, and humanities. Increasingly bioethics - along with its foundational values, concepts and principals - has been exported to other countries, not only in the developed West, but also in developing and/or Eastern countries. Bioethics thus continues to undergo intriguing transformations as it is globalized and adapted to local cultures. These processes have occurred rapidly in the last two decades, with relatively little reflection and examination. This volume brings together contributors from a wide variety of disciplines to take a critical, empirical look at bioethics around the globe, examining how it is being transformed - at both local and global levels - in this process of cross-cultural exporting and importing. One concern is to identify sociocultural forces and consequences which may positively or negatively affect ethics and social justice goals. This book thereby offers the first comparative anthropology and sociology of globalizing bioethics in the field, exploring the global dissemination, local adaptations, cultural meanings and social functions of bioethics theories, practices and institutions and comparing developed and developing countries. The volume considers a full range of countries on every inhabited continent, including: Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Topics include government agendas such as nationalism and nation building; agendas of powerful, associated professions (e.g., medicine, law); theological and political agendas such as 'culture wars'; agendas of entrepreneurial economies of profit; and other cultural and ideological agendas consciously or unconsciously advanced or contested by bioethics work in particular countries based on their unique history, politics and culture. This cross-cultural exploration of globalizing bioethics will be of great interest to a field that is increasingly introspective about its underlying sociocultural assumptions and biases. "At last-an unabashedly sociological and anthropological look at the globalization of bioethics, a really fresh approach to a maturing discipline. The chapters speak from the perspective of sophisticated Western-developed exporters of the bioethical paradigm [and equally sophisticated] Eastern-developing and third-world and interdisciplinary critics suspicious of the canonical view. Trained in the dominant school of American, mainstream philosophy, Myser draws on her long-standing commitment to a social and cultural approach to bioethics to take a fresh look at bioethics globally. She grasps the globalization of bioethics and the skepticism about analytical philosophy's Americanized consensus. The book sets the stage for a new era in bioethics theory and practice {debating] whether a universal common morality underlies the rich variation in national and cultural bioethics traditions." - Robert Veatch, Georgetown University "This path-breaking volume is the first to explore the global export of Western bioethics to a variety of non-Western settings. Explicitly critical, the book also points to the liberating potential of bioethics to achieve social justice and improve the lives of patients around the world. The book is a must-read for all medical anthropologists interested in bioethics." - Marcia Inhorn, Yale University "Bioethics Around the Globe should change the way bioethics is conceived and practiced in the U.S. and elsewhere. Its rich and wide-ranging comparative examination opens new possibilities for bioethical reflection. I enthusiastically recommend this wonderful book." - James F. Childress, University of Virginia "The past 40 years have seen a remarkable spread of bioethics to every part of the world. Dr. Myser's collection is a wonderful and rich exploration of its international impact, revealing important similarities and differences from country to country. It will have an important impact." - Daniel Callahan, The Hastings Center
A Companion to Genethics is the first substantial study of the multifaceted dimensions of the genetic revolution and its philosophical, ethical, social and political significance. Brings together the best and most influential writing about the ethics of genetics; Includes 33 newly-commissioned essays, all written by prominent figures in the field; Shows how there is scarcely a part of our lives left unaffected by the impact of the new genetics.
Ben Mepham is Special Professor in Applied Bioethics, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham and Visiting Professor in Bioethics, Department of Policy Studies, University of Lincoln, UK. I. The Theoretical Background to Bioethics 1. The Nature of Bioethics 2. Theories of Ethics 3. A Framework for Ethical Analysis II. Bioethics and Human Futures 4. The Biology of Poverty 5. Fertility and Morality 6. Genomics, Eugenics and Integrity III. Bioethics and Animals 7. Human Uses of Animals 8. Experiments on Animals 9. Animals and Modern Biotechnology IV. Bioethics, Plants, and the Environment 10. The First Generation of Genetically Modified Crops 11. Dietary Futures 12. Environmental Sustainability V. Bioethics in Practice 13. Risk, Precaution, and Trust 14. Politics and the Biosciences 15. Bioethics in the Laboratory
The essential collection of writings by one of the most visionary and daring philosophers of our time Since bursting sensationally into the public consciousness in 1975 with his groundbreaking work Animal Liberation, Peter Singer has remained one of the most provocative ethicists of the modern age. His reputation, built largely on isolated incendiary quotations and outrage-of-the-moment news coverage, has preceded him ever since. Aiming to present a more accurate and thoughtful picture of Singer’s pioneering work, Writings on an Ethical Life features twenty-seven excerpts from some of his most lauded and controversial essays and books. The reflections on life, death, murder, vegetarianism, poverty, and ethical living found in these pages come together in a must-read collection for anyone seeking a better understanding of the issues that shape our world today. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Peter Singer, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.
The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics is a guide to the complex literature written on the increasingly dense topic of ethics in relation to the new technologies of medicine. Examines the key ethical issues and debates which have resulted from the rapid advances in biomedical technology Brings together the leading scholars from a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, medicine, theology and law, to discuss these issues Tackles such topics as ending life, patient choice, selling body parts, resourcing and confidentiality Organized with a coherent structure that differentiates between the decisions of individuals and those of social policy.