Source Book in Bioethics: A Documentary History [Hardcover]

Albert R. Jonsen (Editor), Robert M. Veatch (Editor), Leroy Walters (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1998

Government agencies and commissions, courts, and legislatures have during the past several decades produced reports, rendered decisions, and passed laws that have both defined the fundamental issues in the field of bioethics and established ways of managing them in our society. Providing a history of these key bioethical decisions, this "Source Book in Bioethics" is the first and only comprehensive collection of the critical public documents in biomedical ethics, including many hard-to-find or out-of-print materials.

Covering the period from 1947 to 1995, this volume brings together core legislative documents, court briefs, and reports by professional organizations, public bodies, and governments around the world. Sections on human experimentation, care of the terminally ill, genetics, human reproduction, and emerging areas in bioethics include such pivotal works as "The Nuremberg Code", "The Tuskegee Report", and "In the Matter of Baby M", as well as less readily available documents as "The Declaration of Inuyama", the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences' statement on genetic engineering, and "The Warnock Committee Report" on reproductive technologies from the United Kingdom. Three eminent scholars in the field provide brief introductions to each document explaining the significance of these classic sources.

This historical volume will be a standard text for courses in bioethics, health policy, and death and dying, and a primary reference for anyone interested in this increasingly relevant field.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Compiled by three renowned ethics scholars, this book is a collection of documents in five areas: research involving human subjects, death and dying, human genetics, human reproductive technology, and changes in the healthcare system. Although the editors have written brief overviews for each of the five main topics, background information is limited so that readers will need to refer to longer encyclopedia articles or texts for the historical and philosophical circumstances surrounding these issues. The value of this compilation lies in its single-volume access to the original text contained in many significant bioethical documents. Rulings on Baby M and on Karen Quinlan, the Baby Doe Regulations, and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act are among the 46 documents that are quoted in full or excerpted. The result is a wonderful complement to such reference sources as the Encyclopedia of Bioethics (LJ 7/95)?there is minimal overlap with this work's appendix?and the Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (LJ 1/98). Recommended for any library with a concentration in ethics.?Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Albert R. Jonsen is a professor of ethics in medicine and chairman of the Department of Medical History and Ethics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Robert M. Veatch is professor of medical ethics and former director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.

LeRoy Walters is Joseph P. Kennedy Professor of Christian Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 510 pages
• Publisher: Georgetown Univ Pr (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878406832
• ISBN-13: 978-0878406838
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)