The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics

The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics is a collection of new essays from acknowledged leaders in the field, designed to guide students through the complexities of the current state of ethics in medicine. The continuing advance of biomedical science heightens our concern about the welfare of patients and the ethical practice of health care professionals. Some of these worries turn on whether new technology-related issues are similar to traditional moral problems, or, instead, are of a different order or kind. Others are driven by commitments to liberty and justice that may call for new approaches to patients’ rights. Attempts to answer these questions have sparked heated controversies: even basic concepts are subject to dramatically opposing understandings. The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics enters this arena as a helpful tool for navigating the complex literature and diverse views on the key issues in medical ethics. Employing crucial distinctions between the personal decisions of patients, the professional decisions of individual health care providers, and political decisions about public policy, the chapters in the volume address the most central and controversial topics in medical ethics. This book is an indispensable reference for anyone who wants to understand the field today and grapple with the challenges and controversies it presents. 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.