Bioethics: 50 Puzzles, Problems, and Thought Experiments

Bioethics: Fifty Problems, Paradoxes, and Thought Experiments collects 50 cases--both real and imaginary--that have been, or should be, of special interest and importance to philosophical bioethics. Cases are collected together under topical headings in a natural order for an introductory course in bioethics. Each case is described in a few pages, which includes bioethical context, a concise narrative of the case itself, and a discussion of its importance, both for broader philosophical issues and for practical problems in clinical ethics and health policy. Each entry also contains a brief, annotated, list of suggested readings. In addition to the classic cases in bioethics, the book contains discussion of cases that involve several emerging bioethical issues: especially, issues around disability, social justice, and the practice of medicine in a diverse and globalized world.

Key Features:

• Gives readers all chapters presented in an identical format:
  - The Case
  - Responses
  - Suggested Readings
• Includes reference to up-to-date literature in journals devoted both to more generalist ethics and to bioethics
• Offers short and self-contained chapters, allowing students to quickly understand an issue and giving instructors flexibility in assigning readings to match the themes of the course
• Features actual or lightly fictionalized cases in humanitarian aid, offering a type of case that is often underrepresented in bioethics books
• Authored by three scholars who are actively involved in the central research areas of bioethics