Principles of Health Care Ethics

This is a book of byzantine proportions: a treasure trove for anyone with even the slightest initial interest in biomedical ethics. Indeed this book demonstrates that biomedical ethics is a microcosm of culture broadly conceived. Principles of Health Care Ethics is unique. There is no other source-book that provides such diversity within the field. Here you can explore Eastern as well as Western approaches; examine the value of scientific studies in ethics, or of bizarre thought experiments. You can read about specific issues arising in clinical care, or gaze into a future when drugs might be widely used not only to treat disease but also to enhance health and abilities. There are twenty chapters on political and social issues and almost as many on the ethics of medical research and new technologies. The first edition of Principles of Health Care Ethics was a constant companion for me, although one that was rather too frequently 'borrowed'. This second edition is even more exciting. A book of reference; and also a book to explore. -Tony Hope, Professor of Medical Ethics, University of Oxford The topics discussed in this book are relevant to everyone working in, or associated with, medicine and health care, whether student, practitioner, teacher of researcher, but its appeal will also extend to those in the fields of philosophy, medical law, sociology and theology, and the general reader concerned about the many moral problems that arise in medical practice.