Description
How influential has the Nazi analogy been in recent medical debates on euthanasia? Is the history of eugenics being revived in modern genetic technologies? And what does the tragic history of thalidomide and its recent reintroduction for new medical treatments tell us about how governments solve ethical dilemmas? Bioethics in Historical Perspective shows how our understanding of medical history still plays a part in clinical medicine and medical research today. With clear and balanced explanations of complex issues, this extensively documented set of case studies in biomedical ethics explores the important role played by history in thinking about modern medical practice and policy. This book provides student readers with up-to-date information about issues in bioethics, as well as a guide to the most influential ethical standpoints. New twists added to well-known stories will engage those more familiar with the challenging field of contemporary bioethics.
"This thoroughly researched and balanced introduction to bioethics discourse and it historical foundations deserves a wide readership beyond those who are interested in medical science. Students of the history of medicine, politics, the pharma industry, and social and philosophical ethics will equally benefit from reading the book." - Professor Catherine Hezer, LSE Review of Books "While historians have charted how bioethics have been shaped by local, social or political contexts, no one has yet analysed how readings of the past also make a contribution to bioethical thought. Ferber does not simply analyse how various actors use history, moreover, but is also prepared to critique it...Future historians of bioethics...will undoubtedly find Bioethics in Historical Perspective an invaluable starting point for their research and teaching." Dr Duncan Wilson, Social History of Medicine "A thorough yet approachable introducation to the interdisciplinary field of bioethics through an historical lens. The author effectively balances this historical context of such core topics as the origins of bioethics with insightful commentary on how the interdisciplinary backgrounds of key players, such as Beauchamp's utilitarianism and Childress's deontology influenced practitioner's ethical approaches ... This volume is readily available to readers of all backgrounds." - Choice
About the Author
Sarah Ferber is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and Chair of the University of Wollongong and regional Human Research Ethics Committee (Health and Medical). She is author of Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France and editor, with Sally Wilde, of The Body Divided: Human Beings and Human 'Material' in Modern Medical History. You can watch her interview about Bioethics in Historical Perspective here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxOZLfDHlSM
Reviews
This thoroughly researched and balanced introduction to bioethics discourse and its historical foundations deserves a wide readership beyond those who are interested in medical science. Students of the history of medicine, politics, the pharma industry, and social and philosophical ethics will equally benefit from reading the book. * Catherine Hezser, SOAS, University of London, UK in LSE Review of Books *
While historians have charted how bioethics has been shaped by local social or political contexts, no one has yet analysed how readings of the past also make an important contribution to bioethical thought. Ferber does not simply analyse how various actors use history, moreover, but is also prepared to critique it ... Future historians of bioethics ... will undoubtedly find Bioethics in Historical Perspective an invaluable starting point for their research and teaching. * Duncan Wilson, University of Manchester UK in Social History of Medicine *
Ferber (Univ. of Wollongong, Australia) presents a thorough yet approachable introduction to the interdisciplinary field of bioethics through a historical lens. The author effectively balances the historical context of such core topics as the origins of bioethics with insightful commentary on how the disciplinary backgrounds of key players, such as Beauchamp's utilitarianism and Childress's deontology, influenced practitioners' ethical approaches. Key issues, including the history of euthanasia and its connections to the Nazis, eugenics, research on human subjects, and thalidomide, are presented thoughtfully, through approaches that emphasize multiple angles of scholarship to provoke discussions across disciplinary boundaries. This concise volume is readily accessible to readers of all backgrounds and offers substantive information relevant to scholars and practitioners in biomedicine, bioethics, health policy, and science studies fields. It is excellent introductory reading for graduate students and professionals/practitioners seeking a background survey of the field. It can also serve as a primary orienting text in undergraduate courses, touching on case studies that could be explored through other sources in more depth. Interested scholars from history or social sciences will find this a solid introductory resource as well. Summing Up: Highly recommended. *** Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. * S. M. Weiss, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA *
Each chapter in Bioethics in Historical Perspective is rich and nuanced, and historians, social scientists and bioethicists can learn a lot from it ... There is much more to learn from this fascinating book than I could cover here. I recommend it warmly to scholars in the field, and it will also be a useful textbook fora historically aware course on bioethics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. * Richard Ashcroft, Queen Mary University of London, UK in New Genetics and Society *
Book Information
ISBN 9781403987242
Author Sarah Ferber
Format Paperback
Page Count 248
Imprint Red Globe Press
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 306g
"This thoroughly researched and balanced introduction to bioethics discourse and it historical foundations deserves a wide readership beyond those who are interested in medical science. Students of the history of medicine, politics, the pharma industry, and social and philosophical ethics will equally benefit from reading the book." - Professor Catherine Hezer, LSE Review of Books "While historians have charted how bioethics have been shaped by local, social or political contexts, no one has yet analysed how readings of the past also make a contribution to bioethical thought. Ferber does not simply analyse how various actors use history, moreover, but is also prepared to critique it...Future historians of bioethics...will undoubtedly find Bioethics in Historical Perspective an invaluable starting point for their research and teaching." Dr Duncan Wilson, Social History of Medicine "A thorough yet approachable introducation to the interdisciplinary field of bioethics through an historical lens. The author effectively balances this historical context of such core topics as the origins of bioethics with insightful commentary on how the interdisciplinary backgrounds of key players, such as Beauchamp's utilitarianism and Childress's deontology influenced practitioner's ethical approaches ... This volume is readily available to readers of all backgrounds." - Choice
About the Author
Sarah Ferber is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and Chair of the University of Wollongong and regional Human Research Ethics Committee (Health and Medical). She is author of Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France and editor, with Sally Wilde, of The Body Divided: Human Beings and Human 'Material' in Modern Medical History. You can watch her interview about Bioethics in Historical Perspective here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxOZLfDHlSM
Reviews
This thoroughly researched and balanced introduction to bioethics discourse and its historical foundations deserves a wide readership beyond those who are interested in medical science. Students of the history of medicine, politics, the pharma industry, and social and philosophical ethics will equally benefit from reading the book. * Catherine Hezser, SOAS, University of London, UK in LSE Review of Books *
While historians have charted how bioethics has been shaped by local social or political contexts, no one has yet analysed how readings of the past also make an important contribution to bioethical thought. Ferber does not simply analyse how various actors use history, moreover, but is also prepared to critique it ... Future historians of bioethics ... will undoubtedly find Bioethics in Historical Perspective an invaluable starting point for their research and teaching. * Duncan Wilson, University of Manchester UK in Social History of Medicine *
Ferber (Univ. of Wollongong, Australia) presents a thorough yet approachable introduction to the interdisciplinary field of bioethics through a historical lens. The author effectively balances the historical context of such core topics as the origins of bioethics with insightful commentary on how the disciplinary backgrounds of key players, such as Beauchamp's utilitarianism and Childress's deontology, influenced practitioners' ethical approaches. Key issues, including the history of euthanasia and its connections to the Nazis, eugenics, research on human subjects, and thalidomide, are presented thoughtfully, through approaches that emphasize multiple angles of scholarship to provoke discussions across disciplinary boundaries. This concise volume is readily accessible to readers of all backgrounds and offers substantive information relevant to scholars and practitioners in biomedicine, bioethics, health policy, and science studies fields. It is excellent introductory reading for graduate students and professionals/practitioners seeking a background survey of the field. It can also serve as a primary orienting text in undergraduate courses, touching on case studies that could be explored through other sources in more depth. Interested scholars from history or social sciences will find this a solid introductory resource as well. Summing Up: Highly recommended. *** Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. * S. M. Weiss, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA *
Each chapter in Bioethics in Historical Perspective is rich and nuanced, and historians, social scientists and bioethicists can learn a lot from it ... There is much more to learn from this fascinating book than I could cover here. I recommend it warmly to scholars in the field, and it will also be a useful textbook fora historically aware course on bioethics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. * Richard Ashcroft, Queen Mary University of London, UK in New Genetics and Society *
Book Information
ISBN 9781403987242
Author Sarah Ferber
Format Paperback
Page Count 248
Imprint Red Globe Press
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 306g
