This 5-vol. revision of the 1979 Dartmouth Medal-winner provides balanced, informative articles on the moral and ethical dimensions of modern medicine, science and technology.
In 1978, when the highly acclaimed first edition of this encyclopedia appeared in four volumes, bioethics was a new field. Since then the discipline has undergone tremendous change, which is well reflected in this new edition. More than 450 new and updated signed articles cover such topics as
Public Health,
Population Ethics, and
Animal Welfare and Rights. Movements such as
Ecofeminism and abstract concepts such as
Compassion and
Beneficence are treated. International coverage has been strengthened. Essays on medical ethics in many parts of the world are written by authors from those areas or traditions. In addition to the religions treated in the first edition,
African Religion,
Native American Religion, and
Sikhism have been added. Since the first edition was published, such issues as AIDS, DNA typing and the genome project, female circumcision, organ and tissue transplantation, and assisted suicide have arisen. Reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization have been successfully employed. All these subjects are covered at length in this five-volume set. In this edition
Interpersonal Abuse replaces child abuse and includes elder and domestic-partner abuse.
Substance Abuse is broadened to include alcohol. Some articles from the first edition, such as Talcott Parson's
Death in the Western World, have been updated with a postscript article by another author. Of special interest to librarians is the new entry
Medical Information Systems.
Reich, a professor of bioethics in the School of Medicine at Georgetown University and senior research scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Bioethics, assembled an editorial advisory board of 57 scholars from around the world. They helped select 437 authors from such disciplines as psychology, philosophy, religion, anthropology, law, and history.
The work is organized alphabetically; topics are often subdivided into subtopics, with each section written by a different author. Lengthy bibliographies of scholarly and popular materials conclude entries. A detailed index of almost 100 pages, see references, and extensive cross-referencing at the ends of articles provide access. These cross-references appear in descending order of relevance, under the headings "directly related to this entry," "for further discussion of topics mentioned in this entry," and "for a discussion of related ideas."
Special features include the section "Additional Resources in Bioethics," which contains directory listings of journals and organizations arranged by country. An appendix, "Codes, Oaths, and Directives Related to Bioethics," has increased from four to six sections; "Ethical Directives Pertaining to the Environment" and ". . . to the Welfare and Use of Animals" are new. Other additions include ethical codes from other countries.
By using a wide range of subject experts, the editors have met the challenge of objectivity. Where inevitable conflict of opinion occurs, different viewpoints are presented. For example, the section on male circumcision outlines varying cultural attitudes toward the practice and the medical and ethical issues involved. Language is generally accessible to the layperson; however, due to the variety of authorship, some presentations are more technical than others. The revision is so extensive as to almost make it a new work. It belongs in any library that serves users interested in the wide array of subjects treated. Health-care practitioners, students from high-school through college, and anyone seeking information on bioethics will find a wealth of material in this outstanding reference work.
