Redescribing Bioethics

Reviews / Votes

"In this long-awaited sequel to The Fiction of Bioethics, Tod S. Chambers invites readers to explore how bioethicists 'construct a world for their theories and then invite us in.' This engaging account of the 'rhetorical mechanics' that drive bioethical arguments is also a deeply learned tour of 'bioethical fights' across the decades. Redescribing Bioethics will be of interest to bioethics and humanities scholars and of use in critical reflection on the field's canonical texts and future directions." -- Nancy Berlinger, The Hastings Center "Tod S. Chambers excavates the constructed, 'redescriptive' nature of American bioethics' leading foundational arguments. His adroit analysis discovers and deciphers the rhetorical mechanisms by which the authors of major bioethics texts seek to persuade us of their positions. A deeply informed, illuminating volume for students, scholars, and practitioners of bioethics alike." -- Marcia Day Childress, University of Virginia A fascinating, highly intelligent, and beautifully written book. Essential reading for everyone who wants to understand the rhetorical strategies academic writers use in the discipline of bioethics. In a series of remarkable essays, Chambers pulls aside the curtain to reveal how major battles over key moral issues gain their power to persuade us of what is right and true. -- Martha Montello, Harvard Medical School Occasionally you run into a book that changes not only how you think about the world, but also how you think about yourself. This is one of those books. In accessible and lively prose, Chambers articulates the structure, form, and motivations that animate the canonical texts of so-called Western Bioethics. Chapter 4, which discusses the strategy of "dissociation" (a rhetorical scheme in which elements thought to be a single entity are redescribed as fundamentally distinct) in bioethical argumentation, is worth the cost of the book alone. I will not be the same kind of writer after reading this book. -- Tyler Tate, Stanford University School of Medicine