The Ethics of Bioethics

by Eckenwiler, Lisa A.

• ISBN13: 9780801886096
• ISBN10: 0801886090
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780801892264
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-06-01
• Publisher: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV PRESS

Summary

Stem cell research. Drug company influence. Abortion. Contraception. Long-term and end-of-life care. Human participants research. Informed consent. The list of ethical issues in science, medicine, and public health is long and continually growing. These complex issues pose a daunting task for professionals in the expanding field of bioethics. But what of the practice of bioethics itself? What issues do ethicists and bioethicists confront in their efforts to facilitate sound moral reasoning and judgment in a variety of venues? Are those immersed in the field capable of making the right decisions? How and why do they face moral challenge -- and even compromise -- as ethicists? What values should guide them? In The Ethics of Bioethics, Lisa A. Eckenwiler and Felicia G. Cohn tackle these questions head on, bringing together notable medical ethicists and people outside the discipline to discuss common criticisms, the field's inherent tensions, and efforts to assign values and assess success. Through twenty-five lively essays examining the field's history and trends, shortcomings and strengths, and the political and policy interplay within the bioethical realm, this comprehensive book begins a much-needed critical and constructive discussion of the moral landscape of bioethics.

Author Biography

Lisa A. Eckenwiler is an associate professor of philosophy and director of health care ethics at the George Mason University Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics. Felicia G. Cohn is an associate professor and the director of medical ethics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine and an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Medical Center.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	p. ix
Foreword	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. xix
Situating Bioethics: Where Have We Been? Where Should We Be Going?
Analyzing Pandora's Box: The History of Bioethics	p. 3
A History of Codes of Ethics for Bioethicists	p. 24
Bioethics and the Problems of Expertise
The Tyranny of Expertise	p. 43
Trusting Bioethicists	p. 47
Contributions and Conflicts: Policy and Politics
Intellectual Capital and Voting Booth Bioethics: A Contemporary Historical Critique	p. 59
Bioethics and Society: From the Ivory Tower to the State House	p. 74
Democratic Ideals and Bioethics Commissions: The Problem of Expertise in an Egalitarian Society	p. 83
The Endarkenment	p. 95
Left Bias in Academic Bioethics: Three Dogmas	p. 108
Bioethics as Politics: A Critical Reassessment	p. 118
ASBH and Moral Tolerance	p. 134
Bioethics as Activism	p. 144
Contributions and Conflicts: Consultation in the Clinic and the Corporate World
Ethics on the Inside?	p. 161
Strategic Disclosure Requirements and the Ethics of Bioethics	p. 170
Ties without Tethers: Bioethics Corporate Relations in the AbioCor Artificial Heart Trial	p. 181
Defining Values and Obligations
Of Courage, Honor, and Integrity	p. 193
I Want You: Notes toward a Theory of Hospitality	p. 205
Learning to Listen: Second-Order Moral Perception and the Work of Bioethics	p. 220
Global Health Inequalities and Bioethics	p. 229
White Normativity in U.S. Bioethics: A Call and Method for More Pluralist and Democratic Standards and Policies	p. 241
Mentoring in Bioethics: Possibilities and Problems	p. 260
Obligations to Fellow and Future Bioethicists: Publication	p. 270
Assessing Bioethics and Bioethicists
The Virtue of Attacking the Bioethicist	p. 281
Social Moral Epistemology and the Role of Bioethicists	p. 288
The Glass House: Assessing Bioethics	p. 297
Index	p. 311
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