Customer Reviews

Intervention and Reflection: Basic Issues in Medical Ethics

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a professor who teaches Bioethics, primarily to college nursing students. I have used many textbooks over the years and have reviewed dozens. I have used Munson's text for the last 3 years. This particular edition is his strongest yet. Potential readers should be aware that Munson takes an encylopedic approach to the field. Each chapter includes a focus case, additional cases, ethical analysis, survey of the context, and a selection of articles written by bioethicists that cover a variety of opionions on the issue. This approach has both its strengths and its drawbacks. On the positive side, Munson's text is an excellent resource for faculty who wish to reduce the course to a single text. There is very little need to supplement the text in any way.

But the encylopedic approach has its drawbacks. First, each chapter is very long and slow to read. I have found resistance from students to read entire chapters. The next time I use the text I will direct the students to particular sections within the chapters. Second, and more problematic, the text is rather undeveloped in its moral theory. Munson confines his explict moral reasoning to a specific section in each chapter, often devoting no more than a short paragraph to each school of thought. In addition, Munson only rarely takes a position on these issues himself. Without a central guiding moral vision or approach, students are often left bewildered and perplexed about what to think of these issues themselves.

In the end, I believe that the strengths of Munson's text outweigh its shortcomings, though professors who are considering this volume should be aware that they will need to do a lot of focusing of class discussions.

I am currently taking a medical ethics class at my university and find this book impossible to get through without forcing myself. The chapters are so dense that it takes for ever to read one chapter. That would be okay if it made perfect sense but even after spending a considerable amount of time reading it I still don't get the gist. I often look things up on the internet for a simpler explanation.

This book is the text for a biomedical ethics class I am now taking. I have worked as a biomedical scientist and the authors address the issues faced by researchers and clinicians very well. Each topic is presented in context and then viewpoints of several (opposing) authors are used to illustrate the different aspects of the dilemma. This book is very helpful for all medical professionals who are interested in doing the right thing when faced with a predicament.

Excellent source of information - used for my bioethics class. Very comprehensive, and a must have for bioethics students out there.

I bought this for a biomedical ethics class that I have and as it turns out this is quickly becoming one of the most interesting books I've ever read. Very well organized and thought out with many case studies pertaining to each issue. The writing is very clear, and it is nice that the book is a hardcover with the high quality glossy type pages. This book is in very high demand at my school and I am extremely happy that Amazon carries it and was able to ship it to me within 2 days, just in time for class.

One thing I would like to mention to anyone needing this particular book for a class or otherwise, is that almost all of the case studies, terminology, and theories and principles are available through wikipedia and elsewhere on the web, so if you are needing this stuff for a class you can always refer to the internet for supplemental material and/or content that is in this book.

Some people will find this book very dry and boring, but I find the concepts and principles and the presentation of their arguments to be very compelling. Again, this is just my personal opinion though.

Came in 4 days although it had a large gap for the date that it would come. I would order through this again. The book is in great quality and it came just in time for my classes!

I purchased this book for the course in Ethics, very comphrehensive and fun to read with many examples to follow, easy to understand and well written for undergraduate students.

This is a really great textbook! The cases are really interesting so much that I kept the book!

This book kept my interests through every chapter. It is filled with peer reviewed articles in addition to the author's analyses. It is neither pro nor con about each subject. In fact it is quite persuasive both ways. It is a promise to be enjoyed by every reader.

The book i purchased was intact and was very satifying. There was writing in the book but it the writing was helpful. Very pleasing though.