Duty and Healing: Foundations of a Jewish Bioethic

"Duty and Healing" positions ethical issues commonly encountered in clinical situations within Jewish law. The concept of duty is significant in exploring bioethical issues, and this book presents an authentic and non-parochial Jewish approach to bioethics, while it includes critiques of both current secular and Jewish literatures.
Among the issues the book explores are the role of family in medical decision-making, the question of informed consent as a personal religious duty, and the responsibilities of caretakers. The exploration of contemporary ethical problems in healthcare through the lens of traditional sources in Jewish law is an indispensable guide of moral knowledge.

Benjamin Freedman was a Professor of Medicine and Philosophy in the Biomedical Ethics Unit at McGill University. He wrote extensively on bioethics and was most recently co-editor of Contemporary Health CareEthics in Canada (1995). He died in 1997. Charles Weijer is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Office for Bioethics Education and Research at Dalhousie University.