E-raamat: Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law [Hart e-raamatud]

Foster (medical ethics and law, U. of Oxford, England) places the concept of human dignity at the heart of his approach to medical ethics and bioethics, arguing that every key issue should be approached through a transactional model that assesses whether proposed solutions maximize dignity for the patient, the clinician or researcher, and the wider community, with the meaning of dignity derived from an anthropological perspective on what makes human thrive. This elevation of dignity, he proposes, constitutes a bioethical "theory of everything" that can be applied to problems large and small. In order to support this argument, he explores the history and current construction of the understanding of dignity and then applies the insights from that discussion to consideration of the role of dignity in healthcare law; issues of consent, confidentiality, privacy, medical research, and resources; human enhancement and cloning technologies; reproductive choice and the unborn; the end of life; and the use and abuse of body parts. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dignity is often denounced as hopelessly amorphous or incurably theological - as feel-good, philosophical window-dressing, or as the name applied to whatever principles give you the answer that you think is right. According to author Charles Foster, this is wrong. Dignity is not only an essential principle in bioethics and law, it is really the only principle. In this ambitious, paradigm-shattering, and highly readable book, Foster argues that dignity is the only sustainable 'Theory of Everything' in bioethics. For most problems in contemporary bioethics, existing principles - such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and professional probity - can do a reasonably workmanlike job if they are all allowed to contribute appropriately. But these are second order principles, each of which traces its origins back to dignity. And when one gets to the frontiers of bioethics (such as human enhancement), dignity is the only conceivable language with which to describe and analyze the strange conceptual creatures found there. Drawing on clinical, anthropological, philosophical, and legal insights, Foster provides a new lexicon and grammar of that language. This book will be essential reading for anyone wanting to travel in the outlandish territories of bioethics, and it is strongly recommended for anyone wanting to travel comfortably anywhere in bioethics or medical law.