This volume contains all that the beginning reader or student needs to soundly grasp the ideas and issues involved in the field. Building on the model used by Peter Singer in his highly successful Companion to Ethics, the Companion to Bioethics consists of 46 specially written essays designed to present the key issues and concepts in bioethics in an authoritative yet always readable, non-technical manner. An unusually comprehensive index allows the reader to find terms and topics not listed in the titles of the essays themselves. A Companion to Bioethics is an essential work of reference for doctors, nurses, lawyers, journalists, philosophers, moral theologians, sociologists and everyone interested in the ethical issues that are transforming our lives. It will be applicable both to everyday health care practice, and to the far-reaching issues arising from the revolution in the biological sciences as applied to human ethics.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors. Acknowledgements. Part I: Introduction: 1. What is Bioethics? A Historical Introduction: Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer. Part II: Questions About Bioethics: 2. Ethical Theory and Bioethics: James Rachels. 3. Bioethics and Cultural Diversity: Segun Gbadegesin. 4. Gender and Bioethics: Jan Crosthwaite. 5. Religion and Bioethics: Baruch Brody. 6. Law and Bioethics: Wibren van der Burg. Part III: Ethical Approaches: 7. A Principle-based Approach: James F. Childress. 8. An Absolute Rule Approach: Joseph Boyle. 9. A Utilitarian Approach: R. M. Hare. 10. A Virtue Ethics Approach: Justin Oakley. 11. A Care Approach: Rita C. Manning. 12. A Case Approach: John D. Arras. Part IV: Before Birth: Issues Involving Embryos and Fetuses: 13. Personhood: Michael Tooley. 14. Abortion: Mary Ann Warren. 15. Mother-Fetus Conflict: Bonnie Steinbock. Part V: Issues in Reproduction: 16. Population Issues: Margaret Battin. 17. Assisted Reproduction: Laura Purdy. 18. Prenatal Screening, Sex Selection and Cloning: Paul Robinson. Part VI: The New Genetics: 19. Gene Therapy: Ruth Chadwick. 20. Mapping the Human Genome: Timothy Murphy. 21. Creating and Patenting New Life Forms: Nils Holtug. 22. Genetic Screening and Counselling: Angus Clarke. Part VII: Life and Death Issues: 23. Medical Decisions at the End of Life: Dan W. Brock. 24. Severely Disabled Newborns: Eike-Henner W. Kluge. 25. Brain Death, Cortical Death and Persistent Vegetative State: Jeff McMahan. 26. Advance Directives: Alex Capron. 27. Voluntary Euthanasia, Suicide and Physician Assisted Suicide: Brian Stoffell. 28. The Slippery Slope Argument: Govert den Hartogh. Part VIII: Resource Allocation: 29. Micro-allocation: Deciding Between Patients: John Harris. 30. Macro-allocation: Dividing Up the Health Care Budget: Dan Wikler and Sarah Marchand 31. Is There a Right to Health Care and, If So, What Does it Encompass?: Norman Daniels. Part IX: Organ Donations: 32. Organ Transplantation: Rosamund Rhodes. Part X: AIDS: 33. AIDS: Individual and 'Public' Interests: Udo Schuklenk. 34. AIDS: Ethical Issues in the Developing World: Udo Schuklenk et al. Part XI: Experimentation With Human Subjects: 35. Experimentation on Human Beings: Paul M. McNeill. 36. Ethical Issues in Human Experimentation: Leonardo D. de Castro. 37. Experimentation on Human Embryos and Fetuses: Mary Warnock. Part XII: Experimentation with Animals: 38. History and Ethical Regulation of Animal Experimentation: An International Perspective: F. Barbara Orlans. 39. The Moral Status of Animals and Their Use as Experimental Subjects: Bernard E. Rollins. Part XIII: Ethical Issues in the Practice of Health Care: 40. Confidentiality: Raanan Gillon. 41. Truth-telling: Roger Higgs. 42. Informed Consent and Patient Autonomy: Robert Young. 43. Patients Doubtfully Capable or Incapable of Consent: Carl Elliot. 44. Special Issues Facing Nurses: Verena Tschudin. Part XIV: The Teaching and Practice of Bioethics: 45. Ethics Committees and Ethics Consultants: Jonathan D. Moreno. 46. How Bioethics is Being Taught: A Critical Review: Cat Myser. Index.

Author Biography

Helga Kuhse is the Director of the Centre for Human Bioethics at Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia. She has published widely in the field of bioethics, and is the author and co-author of several books including "Caring: Nurses, Women and Ethics" (Blackwell, 1996); "Willing to Listen - Wanting to Die" (1995); "Individuals, Humans, and Persons: Questions of Life and Death" (with Peter Singer, 1994); "The Sanctity of Life Doctrine in Medicine - A Critique" (1987); "Should the Baby Live? - The Problem of Handicapped Infants" (with Peter Singer, 1985). She is the co-editor of the journal "Bioethics" (Blackwell) and editor of the "Monash Bioethics Review." She is also co-editor, with Peter Singer, of the accompanying volume "Bioethics: An Anthology" (Blackwell, 1999). Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University. He is the author of "Animal Liberation, " first published in 1975, and is widely credited with triggering the modern animal-rights movement. His "Practical Ethics" is one of the most widely used texts in applied ethics, and "Rethinking Life and Death" received the 1995 National Book Council's Banjo Award for non-fiction. He was the foundation president of the International Association of Bioethics.