James F. Childress

The classic work that has shaped the field of biomedical ethics, fully updated to include cutting-edge approaches and research. Principles of Biomedical Ethics provides a highly original, insightful, and practical guide to morality in the health professions, health policy, and public health. Acclaimed authors Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress thoroughly develop and advocate for four principles that lie at the core of moral reasoning in health care: respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. Drawing from contemporary research - and integrating detailed case studies and vivid real-life examples and scenarios - they demonstrate how these prima facie principles can be used to address various conflicts and dilemmas, from how to deliver bad news to the decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatments. Ideal for courses in biomedical ethics, bioethics, and health care ethics, the text is enhanced by hundreds of annotated citations, along with key terms and concepts. It is accompanied by additional online resources for instructors.

'Im letzten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts haben wichtige Entwicklungen in den Lebenswissenschaften die traditionelle Berufsethik in weiten Teilen der klinischen Medizin, der Krankenpflege und der biomedizinischen Forschung in Frage gestellt. Trotz einer bemerkenswerten Kontinuitat konnte die weithin geschatzte hippokratische Tradition zeitgenossische Anliegen wie informierte Einwilligung, Datensicherheit, Zugang zur Gesundheitsversorgung, kommunale und offentliche Gesundheitsverwaltung und medizinische Forschung am Menschen nicht mehr angemessen berucksichtigen. ...] In diesem Buch erkennen wir die groaen Traditionen der medizinischen Ethik an und schopfen aus ihnen, konzentrieren uns aber auch auf moralphilosophische uberlegungen. Dieser Ansatz hilft uns, gangige Annahmen in den biomedizinischen Wissenschaften, der Gesundheitsversorgung und dem offentlichen Gesundheitswesen zu untersuchen und gegebenenfalls in Frage zu stellen." (Beginn des Buches)

Public Bioethics collects the most influential essays and articles of James F. Childress, a leading figure in the field of contemporary bioethics. These essays, including new, previously-unpublished material, cohere around the idea of 'public bioethics,' which concerns the analysis and assessment of public policies in biomedicine, health care, and public health. The volume is divided into four sections - The first examines the principle of respect for autonomy and paternalistic policies and practices. The second explores the tension between bioethics, public policy, and religious convictions, such as the right of health care providers to conscientiously refuse to provide treatment to certain patients. The third section looks at practices and policiies related to organ transplantation; Childress places particular focus on determining death, obtaining first-person consent for deceased organ donation, fairly allocating donated organs, and related issues in the distribution of scarce resources. The final section maps the broad terrain of public ethics; Childress propoposes a triage framework for the use of resources in public health crises, addresses public health interventions that potentially infringe civil liberties, and sheds light on John Stuart Mill's misunderstood legacy on public health ethics. Public Bioethics deftly explicates both contemporary bioethical issues and the processes involved in determining appropriate policies and publicly justifying collective recommendations, reflecting the author's vast experience serving on public bioethics committees, particularly at the national level in the United States. Providing a thorough account of the principles that govern issues within the healthcare system, this book will appeal to bioethicists, physicians, and public policy-makers.

Principles of Biomedical Ethics provides a highly original, practical, and insightful guide to morality in the health professions. Acclaimed authors Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress thoroughly develop and advocate for four principles that lie at the core of moral reasoning in health care: respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. Drawing from contemporary research--and integrating detailed case studies and vivid real-life examples and scenarios--they demonstrate how these prima facie principles can be expanded to apply to various conflicts and dilemmas, from how to deliver bad news to whether or not to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatments. Ideal for courses in biomedical ethics, bioethics, and health care ethics, the text is enhanced by hundreds of annotated citations and a substantial introduction that clarifies key terms and concepts.

As threats of infectious disease grow and the nation confronts chronic health problems such as diabetes and obesity, health professionals, citizens, and community stakeholders must address increasingly complex ethical conflicts about public health policies and practices. Essentials of Public Health Ethics introduces students to the field of public health ethics, by focusing on cases. Topics span the discipline of public health and integrate materials, concepts, and frameworks from numerous fields in public health, such as health promotion, environmental health and health policy. By delving into both historical and contemporary cases, including international cases, the authors investigate the evolution and impact of various understandings of the concept of “the public” over time, i.e., the public not only as a numerical population that can be defined and measured, but also as a political group with legally defined obligations and relationships, as well as diverse cultural and moral understandings. While the text examines a range of philosophical theories and contemporary perspectives, it is written in a way that presupposes no previous exposure to the philosophical concepts but at the same time provides challenging cases for students who do have more advanced knowledge. Thus the book should be useful in Schools and Programs in Public Health as well as for undergraduate public health courses in liberal arts institutions and for health sciences students at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels.

"This is a valuable clarification, re-statement and defence of principlism as an approach to applied ethics. It is strongly recommended to many teachers of bioethics . . ." —Journal of the American Medical Association "Childress' book deserves careful study by all concerned with the ethical aspect of contemporary biomedical challenges." —Science Books & Films "An ideal supplement for a graduate seminar on bioethics or for upper-division undergraduates needing more information in this area." —Choice In these revised and updated essays, renowned ethicist James F. Childress highlights the role of imagination in practical reasoning through various metaphors and analogies. His discussion of ethical problems contributes to a better understanding of the scope and strength of different moral principles, such as justice, beneficence, and respect for autonomy. At the same time, Childress demonstrates the major role of metaphorical, analogical, and symbolic reasoning in biomedical ethics, largely in conjunction with, rather than in opposition to, principled reasoning.