The Story of Bioethics: From Seminal Works to Contemporary Explorations

This literally "refreshing" collection is based on the notion that the future of bioethics is inseparable from its past. Seminal works provide a unique and relatively unexplored vehicle for investigating not only where bioethics began, but where it may be going as well. In this volume, a number of the pioneers in bioethics―Tom Beauchamp, Lisa Sowle Cahill, James Childress, Charles E. Curran, Patricia King, H. Tristram Engelhardt, William F. May, Edmund D. Pellegrino, Warren Reich, Robert Veatch and LeRoy Walters―reflect on their early work and how they fit into the past and future of bioethics. Coming from many disciplines, generations, and perspectives, these trailblazing authors provide a broad overview of the history and current state of the field. Invaluable to anyone with a serious interest in the development and future of bioethics, at a time when new paths into medical questions are made almost daily, The Story of Bioethics is a Baedeker beyond compare.

"As a field still in development, with much more to come, bioethics rewards a reflection on its origin and early days―and what happened in the aftermath. This engaging, interesting book uses the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and its important work for over 30 years as its point of departure. It is a fascinating story, well told."―Daniel Callahan, director of International Programs, The Hastings Center

"The Story of Bioethics is a veritable 'Genealogy of Medical Morals.' Luminary figures who were active in creating the field of bioethics provide fascinating first-hand accounts of the origins of many of the major theories of medical ethics, recounting the original debates and casting these debates into the twenty-first century. Just how did one become a bioethicist in the 1960s? Whose work were these authors then reading? With whom were they debating? This book is far more illuminating than any history of bioethics to date. It is much more informative about the actual historical conditions of the writing of these seminal works and provides much more of an intellectual history of bioethics, since the contributors explain how they came to arrive at their philosophical and theological positions, how these positions have evolved, and where they think their theories will move the field in the future. Anyone who wants to know what bioethics is about should read this book."―Daniel P. Sulmasy, OFM, MD, PhD, Sisters of Charity Chair in Ethics, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan and New York Medical College

"The authors in The Story of Bioethics are to be highly commended for their thoughtful and rigorous self-critical reflection on their contributions to the discipline of bioethics. While somewhat historical and autobiographical, the essays present various images of the development of a beginning discipline as well as sound analysis of the core issues that have engaged all who reflect on these themes. One can also discern here some of the shape of future developments. This is an important work not only because we have the reflections of many of those who were 'there at the beginning' but also because of the authors' continuing engagement with developments in the field."―Thomas A. Shannon, professor of religion and social ethics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute