Arguing About Bioethics

Arguing About Bioethics is a fresh and exciting collection of essential readings in bioethics, offering a comprehensive introduction to and overview of the field. Influential contributions from established philosophers and bioethicists, such as Peter Singer, Thomas Nagel, Judith Jarvis Thomson and Michael Sandel, are combined with the best recent work in the subject. Organised into clear sections, readings have been chosen that engage with one another, and often take opposing views on the same question, helping students get to grips with the key areas of debate. All the core issues in bioethics are covered, alongside new controversies that are emerging in the field, including: embryo research selecting children and enhancing humans human cloning using animals for medical purposes organ donation consent and autonomy public health ethics resource allocation developing world bioethics assisted suicide. Each extract selected is clear, stimulating and free from unnecessary jargon. The editor’s accessible and engaging section introductions make Arguing About Bioethics ideal for those studying bioethics for the first time, while more advanced readers will be challenged by the rigorous and thought-provoking arguments presented in the readings.

A unique guide to the design and implementation of simulation software This book offers a concise introduction to the art of building simulation software, collecting the most important concepts and algorithms in one place. Written for both individuals new to the field of modeling and simulation as well as experienced practitioners, this guide explains the design and implementation of simulation software used in the engineering of large systems while presenting the relevant mathematical elements, concept discussions, and code development. The book approaches the topic from the perspective of Zeigler’s theory of modeling and simulation, introducing the theory’s fundamental concepts and showing how to apply them to engineering problems. Readers will learn five necessary skills for building simulations of complicated systems: Working with fundamental abstractions for simulating dynamic systems Developing basic simulation algorithms for continuous and discrete event models Combining continuous and discrete event simulations into a coherent whole Applying strategies for testing a simulation Understanding the theoretical foundations of the modeling constructs and simulation algorithms The central chapters of the book introduce, explain, and demonstrate the elements of the theory that are most important for building simulation tools. They are bracketed by applications to robotics, control and communications, and electric power systems; these comprehensive examples clearly illustrate how the concepts and algorithms are put to use. Readers will explore the design of object-oriented simulation programs, simulation using multi-core processors, and the integration of simulators into larger software systems. The focus on software makes this book particularly useful for computer science and computer engineering courses in simulation that focus on building simulators. It is indispensable reading for undergraduate and graduate students studying modeling and simulation, as well as for practicing scientists and engineers involved in the development of simulation tools.

Values in Bioethics (ViB), co-sponsored by the International Association of Bioethics, makes available original philosophical books in all areas of bioethics, including medical and nursing ethics, health care ethics, research ethics, environmental ethics, and global bioethics. --

Argues that applied bioethics should embrace utilitarian decision analysis, thus avoiding recommendations expected to do more harm than good.

Bioethics, Public Moral Argument, and Social Responsibility explores the role of democratically oriented argument in promoting public understanding and discussion of the benefits and burdens of biotechnological progress. The contributors examine moral and policy controversies surrounding biomedical technologies and their place in American society, beginning with an examination of discourse and moral authority in democracy, and addressing a set of issues that include: dignity in health care; the social responsibilities of scientists, journalists, and scholars; and the language of genetics and moral responsibility.

Argues that standard forms of bioethics support the technological utopianism of medicine. Puts forth an alternative agenda arguing that the task of bioethics is to explore the moral significance of the body as it is expressed in the discourse and practice of moral and religious traditions.

“Bioethicists have achieved consensus on two ideas pertaining to beginning of life issues: (1) persons are those beings capable of higher-order cognition, or self-consciousness, and (2) it is impermissible to kill only persons. As a consequence, a consensus is reached regarding the permissibility of both destroying human embryos for research purposes and abortion. The present collection aims to interact critically with this consensus. Authors address various aspects of this ‘orthodoxy’. Issues discussed include: theories of personhood and in particular the role of thought experiments used in support of such theories; the notion of an intrinsic potential and the moral relevance of having one; new formulations of the virtue argument against abortion rights; four-dimensionalism and abortion; the notion of moral status and who (or what) has it; scientific accounts of what a human being is, as well as addressing empirical evidence of fetal consciousness; and analysis of the public policy implications given the epistemic status of pro-choice arguments. Given the issues discussed and that the arguments in critical focus are fairly new, the collection provides a novel, comprehensive, and rigorous analysis of contemporary pro-choice arguments.”

This book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to contemporary bioethics. It also presents provocative, philosophically informed arguments on current bioethical issues. Holland engages with debates ranging from the more familiar such as euthanasia, advance decisions to refuse treatment, and new reproductive technologies to the philosophical implications of recent developments in genetics, including prenatal genetic therapy, genetic enhancement and human cloning. The book is built around four crucial themes. The first is moral status: what are the implications of the moral status of human embryos or animals for our biomedical practices? The second theme life, death and killing looks at the ethics of ending, or failing to lengthen, human life. Holland then explores various questions of personal identity raised in contemporary bioethical debates. Finally, he presents and develops a version of the argument from nature which continues to be influential in bioethics in order to make sense of the objection that some biomedical innovations are unnatural. Structuring the discussions in this way creates an engaging introduction to bioethics that is an ideal textbook for students, whilst offering much to stimulate colleagues in the field. This second edition has been thoroughly and comprehensively updated to reflect the most recent advances in bioethics, and includes an entirely new chapter on the ethical treatment of patients in the minimally conscious state.