This book articulates an African conception of dignity in light of the salient axiological category of personhood in African cultures. The idea of personhood embodies a moral system for evaluating human lives exuding with virtue or ones that are morally excellent. This book argues that this idea of personhood embodies an under-explored conception of dignity, which accounts for it in terms of our capacity for the virtue of sympathy. It then proceeds to apply this personhood-based conception of dignity to bioethical questions, specifically, those of abortion and euthanasia. Regarding abortion, it concludes that it is impermissible since foetuses possess partial moral status. Regarding euthanasia, it argues that it is permissible for reasons revolving around avoiding the reversing of personhood. It also, though, minimally, touches on the questions regarding the mentally disabled and animals, to which it assigns lower moral status.

This book examines the ethics of end of life care, focusing on the kinds of decisions that are commonly made in clinical practice. Specific attention is paid to the intensification of treatment for terminal symptoms, particularly pain relief, and the withdrawal and withholding of care, particularly life-saving or life-prolonging medical care. The book is structured into three sections. The first section contains essays examining end of life care from the perspective of moral theory and theology. The second sets out various conceptual terms and distinctions relevant to decision-making at the end of life. The third section contains chapters that focus on substantive ethical issues. This format not only provides for a comprehensive analysis of the ethical issues that arise in the context of end of life care but allows readers to effectively trace the philosophical, theological and conceptual underpinnings that inform their specific interests. This work will be of interest to scholars working in the area as well as clinicians, specialists and healthcare professionals who encounter these issues in the course of their practice.

This book offers an innovative approach to moral enhancement. We, as humans, have a moral duty to be as good as we can be. Hence, moral bio-enhancement (MBE), if effective and safe, is our moral duty. However, it has to be voluntary because if it is made compulsory, human freedom (of the will) would be curtailed. As freedom (of the will) is an essential component of humanness, compulsory MBE would infringe upon our humanness. An essential question is; what will motivate humans to subject themselves voluntarily to MBE?The book argues - and supports by using empirical/experimental evidence - that morality and happiness operate in a circularly supportive relationship that applies to most humans most of the time: the better they are, the happier they will be; the happier they are, the better they will be. Hence, the grounding rationale for MBE ought not to be the prevention of "ultimate harm" based on compulsory MBE (as argued by Persson and Savulescu), but human happiness based on voluntary MBE. The primary objective of the book is to provide the readers with an original view on moral enhancement, whilst proposing a novel conception of moral enhancement that is informed by new biotechnological developments.

In this book, the author argues that no current philosophical theory of evidence in clinical medical science is adequate. None can accurately explain the way evidence is gathered and used to confirm hypotheses. To correct this, he proposes a new approach called the weight of evidence account. This innovative method supplies a satisfactory explanation and rationale for the "hierarchical pyramid" of evidence-based medicine, with randomized clinical trials and their derivatives, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews of randomized clinical trials at the top and case reports, case series, expert opinion, and the like at the bottom. The author illustrates the development of various "levels" of evidence by considering the evolution of less invasive surgical treatments for early breast cancer. He shows that the weight of evidence account explains the notion of levels of evidence and other efforts to rank them. In addition, he presents a defense of randomization as a method to maximize accuracy in the conduct of clinical trials. The title also considers ethical issues surrounding experimentation with medical therapies in human subjects. It illustrates and discusses these issues in studies of respiratory therapies in neonates and treatment for certain cancers in adults. The author shows that in many cases sufficient evidence can be accrued to warrant generally accepted new therapies without the need for evidence derived from randomized clinical trials.

This book deals with good, evil, happiness and morally enhanced post-humans. It offers a succinct historical elaboration of philosophical stances towards morality and happiness, focusing on Kant's ideas in particular. Human augmented ethical maturity in a futuristic version of Kant's Ethical Commonwealth implies, among else, voluntary moral bio-enhancement (VMBE); consequently, more happiness - as morality and happiness are in a circularly supportive relationship; ultimate morality (UM). UM is in its own way a universal morality. In line with the contention that Kant's vision of the (not immediate but more distant) future of humanity is one of a cosmopolitan moral order in which humans act virtuously in the broadest possible community, that is, humanity, it is justified to conclude that successful VMBE is conducive to Kant's vision. In this context the book is of great interest to a broad audience, such as those interested in VMBE and novel conceptions of morality, and those with an interest in the historical development of morality and happiness, in philosophy (specifically, ethics) and in post-humanity.

This book examines the controversial and repercussive contention that an objective of the law should be to promote personal morality - to make people ethically better. It surveys a number of domains, including criminal law, tort law, contract law, family law, and medical law (particularly the realm of moral enhancement technologies) asking for each: (a) Does the existing law seek to promote personal morality? (b) If so, what is the account of morality promoted, and what is the substantive content? (c) Does it work? and (d) Is this a legitimate objective?

Protected areas have often been defined as the backbones of biodiversity conservation. Protected areas have often been defined as the backbones of biodiversity conservation. However, legitimate demands formulated by countries for their economic development, growing human populations, forest fragmentations, and needs of local communities for sustainable livelihoods are also pressing demands on protected areas, stringently pressuring conservation community to identify means to reconcile long term biodiversity conservation and communities' livelihoods. Hence, integrating conservation activities within the global framework of economic development of countries with high biodiversity had become part of conservation paradigms. Integrated development as a route to conservation, strict protected areas, community managed areas, etc. have been tried but resulted in debatable outcomes in many ways. The lukewarm nature of these results brought 'landscape approach' at the front of biodiversity conservation in Central Africa. Since the late 1990s the landscape approach uses large areas with different functional attributes and shifts foundational biodiversity conservation paradigms. Changes are brought to the role traditionally attributed to local communities, aligning sustainable development with conservation and stretching conservation beyond the confines of traditional protected areas. These three shifts need a holistic approach to respond to different conservation questions. There are only a few instances where the landscape experience has been scientifically documented and lessons learnt drawn into a corpus of knowledge to guide future conservation initiatives across Central Africa. To subjugate one biodiversity conservation landscape as one case study emerged as a matter of urgency to present the potential knowledge acquired throughout the landscape experiment, including leadership and management, processes tried, results (at least partially) achieved, and why such and such other process or management arrangement were been chosen among many other alternatives, etc. The challenges of the implementation of the conservation landscape approach needed also to be documented. This book responds to the majority of these questions; drawing its content from the firsthand field knowledge, it discusses these shifts and documents what has been tried, how successful (unsuccessful) it was, and what lessons learnt from these trials. Theoretical questions such as threat index, and ecological services, etc. are also discussed and gaps in knowledge are identified.

With a focus on end-of-life discussion in aging and chronically ill populations, this book offers insight into the skill of communicating in complex and emotionally charged discussions. This text is written for all clinicians and professionals in the fields of healthcare and public health who are faced with questions of ethical deliberation when a patient's illness turns from chronic to terminal. This skill is required to manage care well in an age of advanced technology, and numerous autonomous choices. With a palliative care and ethics focus, the manuscript provides case studies illustrating issues which occur in the acuity and chronicity of end of life. Clear tools for clinicians, such as scripting and "the advance care planning video library" are included. The book focuses on the unique concept of outpatient ethics, including readmission prevention and shortened length of stay through good communication for clinicians who will be required to conduct this discussion with patients. The ethical undertone in this text provides a perfect opening for application in healthcare ethics classes, both in fields of public health and healthcare. Medical scholars and physicians, nurse practitioners and physician's assistants, as well as social workers, both in practice and training, will benefit from this text.

This volume presents the first collection of essays dedicated to the science fiction of microbiologist Joan Slonczewski. Posthuman Biopolitics consolidates the scholarly literature on Slonczewski's fiction and demonstrates fruitful lines of engagement for the critical, cultural, and theoretical treatment of her characters, plots, and storyworlds. Her novels treat feminism in relation to scientific practice, resistance to domination, pacifism versus militarism, the extension of human rights to nonhuman and posthuman actors, biopolitics and posthuman ethics, and symbiosis and communication across planetary scales. Posthuman Biopolitics explores the breadth and depth of Joan Slonczewski's vision, uncovering the reflective ethical practice that informs her science fiction.

This is the Second Edition of a well-received book that reflects a fresh, integrated coverage of the concepts and scientific measurement of stress and welfare of animals including humans. This book explains the basic biological principles of coping with many forms of adversity. The major part of this work is devoted to explaining scientifically usable concepts in stress and welfare. A wide range of welfare indicators are highlighted in detail with examples being drawn from man and other species. The necessity for combining information from disciplines is emphasized with a one-health, one-welfare approach. This information forms the basis for a synthesis of new ideas. Among the issues covered are: - How brain and body systems regulate using feelings, physiological responses, behaviour and responses to pathology - Limits to adaptation - Assessing positive and negative welfare during both short-term and long-term situations - Ethical problems and suggested solutions A proper assessment of animal welfare is essential to take informed decisions about what is morally acceptable in terms of practice and in the development of a more effective legislation. This work encapsulates a very wide body of literature on scientific aspects of animal welfare and will thus prove a valuable asset for animal welfare scientists, psychologists, students and teachers of all forms of biology, behaviour, medicine, veterinary medicine and animal usage.

This book provides a comprehensive description and ethical analysis of one of the most challenging areas: international health research. Furthermore, it provides a vivid portrait of the current situation of global governance for health research and its main challenges and suggests a comprehensive and universal ethical framework based on the existing theories and frameworks. This work is a must-read for all the students, scholars, professionals, activists, and policy-makers who are involved or interested in the global health research enterprise and its governance and ethics.

This book illustrates the significance of biomedical engineering in modern healthcare systems. Biomedical engineering plays an important role in a range of areas, from diagnosis and analysis to treatment and recovery and has entered the public consciousness through the proliferation of implantable medical devices, such as pacemakers and artificial hips, as well as the more futuristic technologies such as stem cell engineering and 3-D printing of biological organs. Starting with an introduction to biomedical engineering, the book then discusses various tools and techniques for medical diagnostics and treatment and recent advances. It also provides comprehensive and integrated information on rehabilitation engineering, including the design of artificial body parts, and the underlying principles, and standards. It also presents a conceptual framework to clarify the relationship between ethical policies in medical practice and philosophical moral reasoning. Lastly, the book highlights a number of challenges associated with modern healthcare technologies.

As DNA forensic profiling and databasing become established as key technologies in the toolbox of the forensic sciences, their expanding use raises important issues that promise to touch everyone's lives. In an authoritative global investigation of a diverse range of countries, including those at the forefront of these technologies' development and use, this book identifies and provides critical reflection upon the many issues of privacy; distributive justice; DNA information system ownership; biosurveillance; function creep; the reliability of collection, storage and analysis of DNA profiles; the possibility of transferring medical DNA information to forensics databases; and democratic involvement and transparency in governance, an emergent key theme. This book is timely and significant in providing the essential background and discussion of the ethical, legal and societal dimensions for academics, practitioners, public interest and criminal justice organisations, and students of the life sciences, law, politics, and sociology.

What is epidemiology? What are the causes of a new disease? How can pandemics be prevented? Epidemiology is the study of the changing patterns of disease and its main aim is to improve the health of populations. It's a vital field, central to the health of society, to the identification of causes of disease, and to their management and prevention. Epidemiology has had an impact on many areas of medicine; from discovering the relationship between tobacco smoking and lung cancer, to the origin and spread of new epidemics. However, it is often poorly understood, largely due to misrepresentations in the media. In this Very Short Introduction Rodolfo Saracci dispels some of the myths surrounding the study of epidemiology. He provides a general explanation of the principles behind clinical trials, and explains the nature of basic statistics concerning disease. He also looks at the ethical and political issues related to obtaining and using information concerning patients, and trials involving placebos. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This interdisciplinary volume gathers selected, refereed contributions on various aspects of public health from several disciplines and research fields, including the philosophy of science, epidemiology, statistics and ethics. The contributions were originally presented at the 1st Barcelona conference of "Philosophy of Public Health" (5th - 7th May 2016). This book is intended for researchers interested in public health and the contemporary debates surrounding it.

This book is both a workbook and process guide for making ethical system-level decisions. It is of great use to any individual or team that is looking for support in making an ethically-justified system-level decision - that is, a decision that will impact people in more than one or two individual situations. Traditionally, when people think of ethics in the context of policy, what comes to mind is identification of key principles relevant to the work. Ethics analysis of the policy then explores what these principles mean and how they are balanced in the policy. The conventional approach only considers formal policies as worthy of ethics analysis, and the method of analysis leaves a number of key ethically significant dimensions of the system-level decision process unaddressed. The approach in this book assists decision leaders or teams to make better decisions and realize the benefits of quality, legitimacy, and compliance - and most important, greater integrity for all concerned. Applicable to almost any context, this resource has been effectively utilized in organizations that range from health care to civil society.

This book explores the ethical dilemma clinicians may face when disclosing a diagnosis of atypical sex. The moment of disclosure reveals an epistemic incompatibility between scientific fact and social meaning in relation to sex. Attempting to assess the bio-psychosocial implications of this dilemma highlights a complex historic antagonism between fact and meaning making satisfactory resolution of this dilemma difficult. Drawing on David Hume, WVO Quine and Michel Foucault the author presents an integrative model, which views scientific fact and social meaning as codetermining threads in one fabric of knowledge. From this epistemic perspective, the ethical dilemma is understood as a tear in the fabric signifying a rupturing of ontological integrity. To mend this tear and resolve the ethical dilemma three metaphysical perspectives are considered: essentialism, naturalism and emergentism. The book's unique features include: an exploration of the impact of diagnostic disclosure on people with atypical sex (intersex); a synthesis of the epistemic perspectives of social and natural science facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration; a critical evaluation of three metaphysical perspectives on atypical sex (intersex); the application of Hume's epistemological and moral distinctions to contemporary biomedicine and bioethics. The book's target audience includes academics, students and professionals whose work intersects the natural and social sciences, and individuals interested in the metaphysics, epistemology and meta-ethics of sex.

The book approaches the subject of ethics in science from a pedagogical and pragmatic viewpoint and addresses the need to effectively deal with these issues in science classrooms at the K-12 and undergraduate levels, drawing on real-world cases to do so. The book also explores ethical issues in connection with recent biotechnological advances and urges the reader to move beyond a disciplinary understanding and adopt an interdisciplinary view of the entire issue. Intended to initiate a process of reflecting on and investigating these ethical issues related to biotechnologies, and to enable the reader to take a personal stance on these issues rather than being led by outside agencies, the book offers a source of in-depth study material for researchers working in this area, as well as a training manual for teachers at both in-service & pre-service level, teacher educators, curriculum designers and professionals working in the field. Combining theory and practice, and including teachers' reflections on their own pedagogic practice, it offers a valuable resource to help teaching professionals conduct experiments and achieve pedagogic innovations in their own work. "'Ethics in Science- Pedagogic Issues & Concerns' is an excellent textbook for high school and college students that provides an overview of the ethical issues in science and technology and includes useful cases studies and questions for discussion. I recommend it highly." -David B. Resnik, JD, PhD, Bioethicist and IRB Chair, National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, USA "Given the recent proliferation of biological and biomedical knowledge, the need for education in the relationship between science and ethics has become ever increasingly essential. The book by Dr. Saxena provides a valuable introduction on how to inaugurate such an education. This book is an excellent template for those attempting to teach science and ethics." -Bernard.E.Rollin, University Distinguished Professor, Colorado State University, Colorado, USA "This book by Dr Astha Saxena, a well-qualified educationist, fulfils a need for such a book for students of Science and Technology stream. The coverage is comprehensive and the writing is lucid. I endorse this book as it will bring a criticality of thinking among Indian students." -Kambadur Muralidhar PhD, FASc, FNASc, FNA, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad "Science without ethics can lead to false scientific claims as well as unbridled technological growth. The present book conceptualizes this integration of ethics and science beautifully with academic rigour." -Alka Behari, Professor, Department of Education, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

This book discusses the ethical and legal challenges related to innovations, with reference to both scientific research and emerging technologies. It analyzes scientific research with specific reference to experimentation, with a focus on vulnerable people (minors, women, people in developing countries), compassionate care, biobanks and ethical committees. In the context of emerging technologies, it examines the ethical and legal aspects of neuroscience, genomics, ICT, big data, biometrics, converging technologies, enhancement and robotics. The book provides conceptual tools and categories to help readers understand and acquire a critical awareness of the current debates in the field.

There is a common misconception that our genomes - all unique, except for those in identical twins - have the upper hand in controlling our destiny. The latest genetic discoveries, however, do not support that view. Although genetic variation does influence differences in various human behaviours to a greater or lesser degree, most of the time this does not undermine our genuine free will. Genetic determinism comes into play only in various medical conditions, notably some psychiatric syndromes. Denis Alexander here demonstrates that we are not slaves to our genes. He shows how a predisposition to behave in certain ways is influenced at a molecular level by particular genes. Yet a far greater influence on our behaviours is our world-views that lie beyond science - and that have an impact on how we think the latest genetic discoveries should, or should not, be applied. Written in an engaging style, Alexander's book offers tools for understanding and assessing the latest genetic discoveries critically.

There is a common misconception that our genomes - all unique, except for those in identical twins - have the upper hand in controlling our destiny. The latest genetic discoveries, however, do not support that view. Although genetic variation does influence differences in various human behaviours to a greater or lesser degree, most of the time this does not undermine our genuine free will. Genetic determinism comes into play only in various medical conditions, notably some psychiatric syndromes. Denis Alexander here demonstrates that we are not slaves to our genes. He shows how a predisposition to behave in certain ways is influenced at a molecular level by particular genes. Yet a far greater influence on our behaviours is our world-views that lie beyond science - and that have an impact on how we think the latest genetic discoveries should, or should not, be applied. Written in an engaging style, Alexander's book offers tools for understanding and assessing the latest genetic discoveries critically.

This book discusses the possibilities for the use of international human rights law (and specifically, international biomedical laws related to the protection of human rights and the human genome) to provide a guiding framework for the future regulation of genetic modifications applied to human embryos and other precursor materials, when these are made with the aim of implanting a genetically altered embryo in a woman. The significance and timeliness of the work derives from the recent availability of CRISPR/ Cas9 and other gene editing tools, and from lacunae in international law regarding the legality of embryo modification with these tools and appropriate governance structures for the oversight of resulting practices. The emergence of improved genome editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9, holds the promise of eradicating genetic diseases in the near future. But its possible future applications with Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) raises a plethora of legal and ethical concerns about "remaking" future human beings. The work aims to address an urgent call, to embed these rising concerns about biomedical advancements into the fundamental tailoring of legal systems. Suitable regulatory approaches, coupled with careful reflection of global biomedical laws and individual constitutional systems must be explored. The Book analyzes the impact of reproductive biomedical technologies on the legal and ethical dimensions of regulatory frameworks in selected constitutional systems like the US, the UK, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand. Employing a comparative law methodology, the work reveals a dynamic intersection between legal cultures, socio-philosophical reasoning and the development of a human rights-based framework in bio-political studies. Navigating towards a truly internationalized biomedical approach to emerging technologies, it presents an understanding why a renegotiation and reinvigoration of a contemporary and "new" universal shared values system in the international human rights discourse is now necessary.

Given the profound moral-ethical controversies regarding the use of new biotechnologies in medical research and treatment, such as embryonic research and cloning, this book sheds new light on the role of religious organizations and actors in influencing the bio-political debates and decision-making processes. Further, it analyzes the ways in which religious traditions and actors formulate their bio-ethical positions and which rationales they use to validate their positions. The book offers a range of case studies on fourteen Western democracies, highlighting the bio-ethical and political debates over human stem cell research, therapeutic and reproductive cloning, and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. The contributing authors illustrate the ways in which national political landscapes and actors from diverse and often fragmented moral communities with widely varying moral stances, premises and commitments formulate their bio-ethical positions and seek to influence political decisions.

This book explores why animals, at some point, disappeared from the realm and scope of sociology. The role of sociology in the construction of a science of the 'human' has been substantial, building representations of the human sphere of life as unique. Within the sociological tradition however, animals have often been invisible, even non-existent. Through in-depth comparisons of the texts of prominent early sociologists Emile Durkheim and Edward Westermarck, Tuomivaara shows that despite this exclusion, representations of animals and human-animal relations were far more varied in early works than in the later sociological cannon. Addressing a significant gap in the interdisciplinary field of animal studies, Tuomivaara presents a close reading of the historical treatment of animals in the works of Durkheim and Westermarck to determine how the human-animal boundary was established in sociological theory. The diverse forms in which animals and 'the animal' appear in the works of early classical sociology are charted and explored, alongside the sociological themes that bring animals into these texts. Situated in contemporary theory, from critical animal studies to posthumanism, this important book lays the groundwork for a disciplinary shift away from this sharp human-animal dualism.

This open access volume is the first academic book on the controversial issue of including spiritual care in integrated electronic medical records (EMR). Based on an international study group comprising researchers from Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland), the United States, Canada, and Australia, this edited collection provides an overview of different charting practices and experiences in various countries and healthcare contexts. Encompassing case studies and analyses of theological, ethical, legal, healthcare policy, and practical issues, the volume is a groundbreaking reference for future discussion, research, and strategic planning for inter- or multi-faith healthcare chaplains and other spiritual care providers involved in the new field of documenting spiritual care in EMR. Topics explored among the chapters include: Spiritual Care Charting/Documenting/Recording/Assessment Charting Spiritual Care: Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Aspects Palliative Chaplain Spiritual Assessment Progress Notes Charting Spiritual Care: Ethical Perspectives Charting Spiritual Care in Digital Health: Analyses and Perspectives Charting Spiritual Care: The Emerging Role of Chaplaincy Records in Global Health Care is an essential resource for researchers in interprofessional spiritual care and healthcare chaplaincy, healthcare chaplains and other spiritual caregivers (nurses, physicians, psychologists, etc.), practical theologians and health ethicists, and church and denominational representatives.