Pragmatic Bioethics. [The Vanderbilt Library of American Philosophy]

A dramatic new introduction to the perplexing ethical challenges of modern biomedicine through the lens of classical American pragmatism.

"Pragmatic Bioethics is one of the most important books to appear in bioethics and applied philosophy this decade. Essay after essay takes on the challenge of articulating precisely what a pragmatic approach to the ethics of health care and biomedicine is and might be. There is simply no better introduction to the issues and challenges raised when bioethical inquiry is brought to the lab bench, the emergency room, or the floor of a state legislature. This is must reading for anyone engaged in bioethics."-Arthur Caplan, Trustee Professor and Director of the Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania

"This book provides the first extensive look at how the challenges encountered in clinical research and policy environments can be framed in a systematic way using a philosophical approach that is sure to inspire debate and discussion for some time. This is precisely what a pragmatic approach to bioethics ought to be doing."-Eric M. Meslin, Executive Director, National Bioethics Advisory Commission

"Pragmatic ethics is our best hope to provide morally satisfying answers to the complex questions of a contingent and changing world. This volume approaches medicine's major moral dilemmas in a way that can help citizens work with policymakers to develop medical systems, structures, guidelines, and codes that serve the interests of most of the people most of the time. What an accomplishment!"-Rosemarie Tong, Davidson College

Modern science and medicine have ushered in a century of amazing discovery and tough choices. In this authoritative and impassioned book, Glenn McGee and other leading writers in American philosophy and medicine offer a new theory of bioethics using the uniquely American approach to ethics known as pragmatism. In eighteen clear and compelling essays, Pragmatic Bioethics addresses some of the newest questions in medicine, including human cloning, genetic testing, and human enhancement. These essays also struggle in a new way with perennial issues in biomedicine, including care for the poor and the aging.

Scholars in medicine and philosophy will find the pragmatic argument refreshing and challenging. But Pragmatic Bioethics is also a clear and comprehensive new introduction to bioethics, appropriate for undergraduates, graduate students, clinicians, and scientists-in-training.

Glenn McGee teaches bioethics and American philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics. The author of dozens of articles in philosophy and medicine, his books include The Perfect Baby: A Pragmatic Approach to Genetics (1997) and The Human Cloning Debate (1998). The other contributors to this volume include many of the most thoughtful and respected thinkers in bioethics and philosophy.