An Introduction to Bioethics

Coauthor with Thomas Shannon of An Introduction to Bioethics, Fourth Edition, Nicholas Kockler approaches the subject of this important area of ethics with this fifth edition and maintains its balanced treatment of topics.

Grounded in clinical experience as well as academic scholarship, Kockler expands the treatment of issues covered in previous editions, especially in the area of technological changes such as human gene editing, precision medicine, and cybernetics. Chapters have been added covering mental illness, substance use, and issues in public health emergencies. Relatively "new" end-of-life issues such as "right to try" and voluntarily stopping eating and drinking are covered. The book wraps up with a chapter on care of the earth.

Understandable and readable, this revision includes case studies and examples drawn from the headlines to keep the reader engaged with the text. Discussion questions and extensive endnotes provide the interested reader with paths for further study.

Nicholas Kockler, PhD, is vice president for theology and ethics at Providence St. Joseph Health, following his tenure at the Providence Center for Health Care Ethics, Portland, Oregon. This was a position that gave him a unique outlook as an ethicist and scholar who is actively involved in practical decision-making in the field of bioethics.