Bioethics: 50 Puzzles, Problems, and Thought Experiments

Bioethics: 50 Puzzles, Problems, and Thought Experiments collects 50 cases―both real and imaginary―that have been, or should be, of special interest and importance to philosophical bioethics. Cases are collected together under topical headings in a natural order for an introductory course in bioethics. Each case is described in a few pages, which includes bioethical context, a concise narrative of the case itself, and a discussion of its importance, both for broader philosophical issues and for practical problems in clinical ethics and health policy. Each entry also contains a brief, annotated, list of suggested readings. In addition to the classic cases in bioethics, the book contains discussion of cases that involve several emerging bioethical issues: especially, issues around disability, social justice, and the practice of medicine in a diverse and globalized world.

Key Features:

• Gives readers all chapters presented in an identical format:
• The Case
• Responses
• Suggested Readings
• Includes reference to up-to-date literature in journals devoted both to more generalist ethics and to bioethics
• Offers short and self-contained chapters, allowing students to quickly understand an issue and giving instructors flexibility in assigning readings to match the themes of the course
• Features actual or lightly fictionalized cases in humanitarian aid, offering a type of case that is often underrepresented in bioethics books
• Authored by three scholars who are actively involved in the central research areas of bioethics

Sean D. Aas is a Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Georgetown University. His primary areas of research are bioethics and social and political philosophy, with a significant focus on issues of disability: disability as social construct, disability and political egalitarianism, disability and health.

Collin O'Neil is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at Lehman College, City University of New York. He teaches and writes on applied ethics, especially medical and clinical research ethics, and topics in legal philosophy.

Chiara Lepora has worked for Médecins Sans Frontières since 2002 and is currently Head of the Manson Unit for MSF UK. She is a medical doctor who conducts research on the ethics of humanitarian assistance and coauthored, with Robert E. Goodin, the book, On Complicity and Compromise (2013).