Life and Death
Philosophical Essays in Biomedical Ethics
Published on 26. February 1993
Book
Hardback
449 pages
978-0-521-41785-3 (ISBN)
Description
How should modern medicine's dramatic new powers to sustain life be employed? How should limited resources be used to extend and improve the quality of life? In this collection, Dan Brock, a distinguished philosopher and bioethicist and co-author of Deciding for Others (Cambridge, 1989), explores the moral issues raised by new ideals of shared decision making between physicians and patients. The book develops an ethical framework for decisions about life-sustaining treatment and euthanasia, and examines how these life and death decisions are transformed in health policy when the focus shifts from what is best for a patient to what is just for all patients. Professor Brock combines acute philosophical analysis with a deep understanding of the realities of clinical health policy. This is a volume for philosophers concerned with medical ethics, health policy professionals, physicians interested in bioethics, and undergraduate courses in biomedical ethics.
Reviews / Votes
"Dan Brock is one of the brightest scholars in the whole field of biomedical ethics, and this collection of essays serves as proof of why he deserves such praise. He is provocative even when writing about topics that seem mundane, and persuasive even when one ultimately disagrees with him. His writing style is crisp and generally quite clear. What Brock has to say about bioethics is always important....if one is interested in contemporary bioethics, reading Dan Brock's work is a must, whether one agrees with him or not." Academic Medicine "...well written and extremely valuable to a number of different activities within medicine. It belongs in the library of anyone seriously interested in these issues." Erich H. Loewy, Doody's "This important book is an exploration of the moral issues that have emerged from the new understandings, the new ideals and norms, of shared health care decision-making between physicians and patients....Because biomedical ethics is inherently interdisciplinary, numerous audiences will find this to be a useful volume, especially so in light of the current national debate on health care reform, universal health care, and deficit/debt reduction." Roland A. Foulkes, American Journal of Human BiologyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
705 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-41785-3 (9780521417853)
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Schweitzer Classification
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New editions
Book
01/1993
Cambridge University Press
€55.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Additional editions
Book
01/1993
Cambridge University Press
€55.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Content
Part I. Physicians and Patients Making Treatment Decisions: 1. Informed consent; 2. The ideal of shared decision making between physicians and patients; 3. When competent patients make irrational choices (co-authored by Steven A. Wartman); Part II. Life-and-Death Decisions in the Clinic: 4. Moral rights and permissible killing; 5. Taking human life; 6. Death and dying; 7. Forgoing life-sustaining food and water: Is it killing?; 8. Voluntary active euthanasia; Part III. Life-and-Death Decisions in Health Policy: 9. The value of prolonging human life; 10. Quality of life measures in health care and medical ethics; 11. The problem of low benefit/high cost health care; 12. Justice and the severely demented elderly; 13. Justice, health care, and the elderly; 14. Truth or consequences: the role of philosophers in policy-making; Index.