Stories Matter

Introduction - memory and anticipation, the practice of narrative ethics, Rita Charon and Martha M. Montello. Part I Narrative knowledge: narratives of human plight - a conversation with Jerome Bruner, Jerome Bruner; the ethics of medicine, as revealed in literature, Wayne Booth; like an open book - reliability, intersubjectivity, and textuality in bioethics, Laurie Zoloth and Rita Charon. Part II Narrative components of bioethics: context - backward, sideways, and forward, Hilde Lindemann Nelson; voice in the medical narrative, Suzanne Poirer; time and ethics, Rita Charon; the idea and character, Anne Hunsaker Hawkins; plot - framing contingency and choice in bioethics, Tod Chambers and Kathryn Montgomery; the reader's response and why it matters in biomedical ethics, Charles M. Anderson and Martha Montello. Part III Case studies in narrative ethics: the narrative of rescue in pediatric practice, Walter Robinson; beyond the authoritative voice - casting a wide net in ethics consultation, Susan Rubin; of symbols and silence - using narrative and its interpretation to foster physician understanding, Marcia Day Childress; narrative understanding and methods in psychiatry and behavioral health, Richard Martinez; in the abscence of narrative, Julie Connelly. Part IV Consequences of using narrative methods: narrative ethics and institutional impact, Howard Brody. (Part content).