August 26, 2008
Neuroethics is on the rise: centers specializing in neuroethics are opening at prestigious universities, national and international organizations in neuroethics are being formed, and mainstream philosophical and ethical associations are putting on conferences on neuroethics. Yet at the same time, … Read More
July 14, 2008
Well-researched and current to the fast-moving field of stem cell research — using both embryonic and “adult” cells — Russell Korobkin navigates the complex interaction of laws, legal precedents, patents, and public policy. However, this book comes up short of … Read More
July 1, 2008
The current conflict over embryonic stem cells throughout the world deals particularly with the ethical implications of this promising, but delicate subject and the scientific manipulation of human life in its early stages of development. It is a symbolic struggle … Read More
June 19, 2008
The American Journal of Bioethics (Volume 8, Issue 3 2008) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Strangers at the Benchside: Research Ethics Consultation” by Mildred K. Cho;Â Sara L. Tobin;Â Henry T. Greely;Â Jennifer McCormick;Â Angie Boyce; David … Read More
June 18, 2008
The collection of essays, The Ethics of Bioethics, brings together a number of thinkers, including ethicists, legal scholars, and medical practitioners that offer perspectives on the subject of bioethics that are primarily professional, in contrast to the strictly theoretical or … Read More
June 13, 2008
“Embryo: A Defense of Human Life” by Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen is different. It delves beneath the surface of the current debate to analyze the ethical issue at stake. Embryonic stem-cell research confronts us with the question whether … Read More
May 19, 2008
This is a short, punchy, book that sets out to make a single point – clinical ethics consultants need to be free to step beyond the boundaries of conceptual analysis and should be able to offer practical advice about how … Read More
May 6, 2008
The Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 299, No. 15, 16 April 2008) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Palliative Care for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: “I Would Like a Quick Return to a Normal … Read More
April 30, 2008
Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology (Volume 2, Issue 1) is now available online. Articles include: “Death in Traffic: Why Are the Ethical Issues Ignored?” by Leonard Evans “The Ethics of Autonomous Military Robots” by Jason Borenstein “Privacy, Data Protection, … Read More
April 10, 2008
Science’s task is to explain the natural world: what it is, how it works and why it is the way it is. Ethics is about the oughts and the shoulds. Most ethicists — religious and secular — agree that knowledge … Read More
April 8, 2008
In 1911, the influential geneticist Charles Davenport published Heredity in Relation to Eugenics, advancing his ideas of how genetics would improve society in the 20th century. It became a college textbook and a foundation for the widespread eugenics movement in … Read More
April 1, 2008
NanoEthics (Volume 2 Number 1, April 2008) is now available by subscription only. “The Role of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Nanotechnology Research and Development” by Mette Ebbesen, 1-13 “Beyond Therapy and Enhancement: The Alteration of Human Nature” by … Read More
April 1, 2008
It is a cliché but nevertheless true that philanthropists and government bureaucrats often do more harm than good, not least when they set out to change the world. In the second half of the 20th century they actually tried to … Read More
March 26, 2008
Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 299 No. 11, March 19, 2008) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “How to Interpret a Genome-wide Association Study” by Thomas A. Pearson; Teri A. Manolio, 1335-1344 “Epigenetics at the Epicenter … Read More
March 26, 2008
Enhancing Evolution will appeal to readers from the general, as well as professional, audiences, with Harris’s easy to follow tongue-in-cheek style. His text serves both as a response to critics of enhancement technologies and a positive argument in favor of … Read More
March 20, 2008
Without question, The Ethics of Bioethics is a must-read for all persons involved with bioethics. This well-written, well-organized paperback seeks to analyze the many facets of ethics in the field of bioethics. Several authors discuss the issue of a code … Read More
March 19, 2008
Developing World Bioethics (Vol. 8 Issue 1, April 2008) is now available. Articles include: “HIV/AIDS, PREGNANCY AND REPRODUCTIVE AUTONOMY: RIGHTS AND DUTIES” by CHARLES G. NGWENA AND REBECCA J. COOK, iii–vi “MANDATORY HIV TESTING IN PREGNANCY: IS THERE EVER A … Read More
March 19, 2008
John Harris, who always challenges conventional thinking in bioethics, especially if it derives its opinions from conservative principles, delivered a series of lectures in 2006 at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at Oxford University. The mission of … Read More
February 12, 2008
Sociology of Health & Illness (Vol. 30 Issue 1, January 2008, Page 1-166) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “‘Ordinary people only’: knowledge, representativeness, and the publics of public participation in healthcare” by Graham P. Martin, 35–54 “Autism … Read More
December 19, 2007
and The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering
We sit on the cusp of a new world in which the ability to genetically engineer our children, as well as re-upholster our own organs, promises to become routine rather than exotic. Just as old definitions of life proved ethically … Read More
December 7, 2007
Human dignity has fallen on hard times. Nearly 60 years ago, it was the bedrock of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. But now bioethicists, who are tasked with the protection of life, are questioning whether or not it … Read More
December 5, 2007
A few months ago I wrote a magazine article about scientists who are building robots capable of a rudimentary form of sociability. As part of my research, I spent a few days at the humanoid robotics laboratory at M.I.T. And … Read More
October 23, 2007
The essays in this volume were contributed by various African American ethicists, physicians, and philosophers whose charge was to address African American perspectives of bioethical issues and to answer the question, “Is there a distinctive African American cultural perspective on … Read More
October 10, 2007
Singing of the boy in the bubble, musician Paul Simon reminds us that we live in an age of “miracles and wonders.” Indeed, we have never had greater power to effectively prevent, diagnose, and treat illness. Medical science has helped … Read More
August 22, 2007
JAMA — Book Review: “Bonnie Steinbock, The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics,” by Mary Anderlik Majumder, JD, PhD. August 2007, 298(8): 927-928. The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics is an ambitious effort to bring together established and emerging leaders in the field … Read More
