The term bioethics was first used in the early 1970s by biologists who were concerned about ethical implications of genetic and ecological interventions, but was soon applied to all aspects of biomedical ethics, including health care delivery, research, and public policy. Its literature draws from disciplines as varied as clinical medicine and nursing, scientific research, theology and philosophy, law, and the social sciences—each with its own distinctive vocabulary and expressions. A Handbook of Bioethics Terms is a handy and concise glossary-style reference featuring over 400 entries on the significant terms, expressions, titles, and court cases that are most important to the field. Most entries are cross-referenced, making this handbook a valuable addition to the bookshelves of undergraduate and graduate students in health care ethics, physicians and nurses, members of institutional ethics committees and review boards, and others interested in bioethics. A sampling of terms from the handbook: AbortionDNR (Do Not Resuscitate)Eugenics Gene therapy Living will Natural lawPrimum non nocere Single-payer systemSurrogate consent Schiavo case Sample Definitions: Formalism: In ethical theory, a type of deontology in which an action is judged to be right if it is in accord with a moral rule, and wrong if it violates a moral rule. Xenograft: Organ or tissue transplanted from one individual to another individual of another species. (See Transplantation, organ and tissue)

Bonnie Steinbock presents the authoritative, state-of-the-art guide to current issues in bioethics, covering 30 topics in original essays by some of the world's leading figures in the field, as well as by some newer 'up-and-comers'. Anyone who wants to know how the central debates in bioethics have developed in recent years, and where the debates are going, will want to consult this book.

This bioethics handbook offers concise, up-to-date, and easy to read chapters on a broad range of bioethical topics in the following categories: foundational concepts, theory and method, healthcare ethics, research ethics, public health, technology, and the environment. The volume provides a snapshot of current bioethics, taking into account current affairs and emerging new topics. Each chapter acknowledges and critically breaks down the historical developments of the subject and the most authoritative existing literature on respective topics, providing accessible and up-to-date philosophical analysis. As such, the chapters are designed to be attractive as primary or supplementary teaching material for university classes of the philosophical or bioethical variety, with clear demarcations and indicators for key terms, ideas, and arguments that should also facilitate productive note-taking and points for critical discussion for students. The handbook also serves as a one-stop starting resource for multi- and interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners who engage with bioethics in their work.

Bioethics and the Law takes a multidisciplinary approach that combines legal discussion with jurisprudential, philosophical, and sociological materials. Strong expressions of different points of view highlight debates about bioethical issues. The text underscores the need to mediate between the law's focus on broad rules and the bioethicist's concern with context and detail. Students are required to consider the ethical implications of health care as a business, face the shifting parameters of the provider/patient relationship in healthcare, and understand the role of government in designing and implementing healthcare programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Bioethics and the Law supplements the traditional focus of bioethics on the interest of the individual with a second focus on the socio-economic developments that shape healthcare. Connecting broad public healthcare issues to concerns of the individual patient/healthcare consumer, the text promotes understanding of unsettling and complex situations and shows the implications of bioethical developments for understandings of personhood. A helpful glossary defines basic terms and several short appendices summarize recent developments in science and technology.

Disputes in Bioethics tackles some of the most debated questions in contemporary scholarship about the beginning and end of life. This collection of essays takes up questions about the dawn of human life, including: Should we make children with three (or more) parents? Is it better never to have been born? and Why should the baby live? This volume also asks about the dusk of human life: Is "death with dignity" a dangerous euphemism? Should euthanasia be permitted for children? Does assisted suicide harm those who do not choose to die? Still other questions are asked concerning recent views that health care professionals should not have a right to conscientiously object to legal and accepted medical practices. Finally, the book addresses questions about separating conjoined twins as well as the issue of whether the species of an individual makes a difference for the individual’s moral status. Christopher Kaczor critiques some of the most recent and influential positions in bioethics, while eschewing both consequentialism and principalism. Rooted in the Catholic principle that faith and reason are harmonious, this book shows how Catholic bioethical teaching is rationally defensible in terms that people of good will, secular or religious, can accept. Proceeding from a natural law perspective, Kaczor defends the inherent dignity of all human beings and argues that they merit the protection of their basic human goods because of that inherent dignity. Philosophers interested in applied ethics, as well as students and professors of law, will profit from reading Disputes in Bioethics. The book aims to be both philosophically sophisticated and accessible for students and experienced researchers alike.

In general, the history of virtue theory is well-documented (Sherman, 1997; O’Neill, 1996). Its relationship to medicine is also recorded in our work and in that of others (Pellegrino and Thomasma, 1993b; 1996; Drane, 1994; Ellos, 1990). General publications stress the importance of training the young in virtuous practices. Still, the popularity of education in virtue is widely viewed as part of a conservative backlash to modern liberal society. Given the authorship of some of these works by professional conservatives like William Bennett (1993; 1995), this concern is authentic. One might correspondingly fear that greater adoption of virtue theory in medicine will be accompanied by a corresponding backward-looking social agenda. Worse yet, does reaffirmation of virtue theory lacquer over the many challenges of the postmodern world view as if these were not serious concerns? After all, recreating the past is the “retro” temptation of our times. Searching for greater certitude than we can now obtain preoccupies most thinkers today. One wishes for the old clarity and certitudes (Engelhardt, 1991). On the other hand, the same thinkers who yearn for the past, like Engelhardt sometimes seems to do, might stress the unyielding gulf between past and present that creates the postmodern reaction to all systems of Enlightenment thought (1996).

The Basics of Bioethics, Fourth Edition offers an easy-to-follow introduction to this dynamic field, intended for healthcare professionals, teachers, students, and anyone interested in bioethics. Accessible and enjoyable for readers of all backgrounds, the book contains numerous cases—including ones that recently have dominated international headlines—to help anchor the broader discussion. The text is suitable for use in short courses in schools of medicine, nursing, and other health professions; continuing professional education; various undergraduate departments; and adult education. Chapters are organized around common moral themes in order to help readers understand the values and other connections that tie together different positions in bioethics. This fourth edition adds a new chapter on alternative frameworks in bioethics, including narrative ethics and casuistry, feminist approaches, care ethics, and virtue ethics. Due to significant advances in genetics and reproductive possibilities, this new edition devotes a full chapter to each. The combined teaching, research, and clinical experience of the two authors helps make this edition current with the evolving field of bioethics, while still embedding the major issues in a systematic framework that allows readers easily to navigate the larger field. Key Changes to the Fourth Edition: • An added chapter on new and emerging approaches in bioethics, including those based on virtue ethics, casuistry and narrative ethics, feminist ethics, and care ethics • Updates throughout the book based on developments in ethical theory and new medical research • Revisions and updates to the Learning Objectives, Key Terms, Bibliographies, and URLs • The addition of multiple recent case studies, including: Jahi McMath an undocumented patient who needs a rule bent a pediatrician who turns away unvaccinated patients a minor eligible for pediatric bariatric surgery a daughter suing a hospital for non-disclosure of her father’s Huntington’s diagnosis CRISPR-edited newborn babies