Review by Choice Review
Arras (recently deceased, formerly Univ. of Virginia and a member of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues), Fenton (Univ. of Virginia), and Kukla (Georgetown Univ.) have put together an interesting, fresh resource on philosophical bioethics. Though they include essays on standard bioethical concerns--for example, the beginning of life, the end of life, biomedical research--they also provide essays on social justice usually treated in volumes on the ethics of public health (human rights, health disparities, population health, and globalization). This is a welcome change. The contributors are all prestigious in the field and most are from the US, with Europe, Australia, and Canada also represented. The essays that strike an introductory note--e.g., Dena Davis's "Ethical Issues in Genetic Research"--are excellent, but overall, this is a mixed collection in terms of readership. It is not a volume for beginners; some of the essays dive deeply into narrow topics and require readers who have more than a passing understanding of philosophical bioethics. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates; researchers/faculty; professionals. --Marin M. Gillis, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review