The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics

The continuing advance of biomedical science heightens our concern about the welfare of patients and the ethical practice of health care professionals. Some of these worries turn on whether new technology-related issues are similar to traditional moral problems, or, instead, are of a different order or kind. Others are driven by commitments to liberty and justice that may call for new approaches to patients' rights. Attempts to answer these questions have sparked heated controversies: even basic concepts are subject to dramatically opposing understandings. The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics enters this arena as a helpful tool for navigating the complex literature and diverse views on the key issues in medical ethics. Employing crucial distinctions between the personal decisions of patients, the professional decisions of individual health care providers, and political decisions about public policy, the chapters in the volume address the most central and controversial topics in medical ethics. This book is an indispensable reference for anyone who wants to understand the field today and grapple with the challenges and controversies it presents.