In these essays, a diverse group of ethicists draw insights from both religious and feminist scholarship in order to propose creative new approaches to the ethics of medical care. While traditional ethics emphasizes rules, justice, and fairness, the contributors to this volume embrace an "ethics of care", which regards emotional engagement in the lives of others as basic to discerning what we ought to do on their behalf. The essays reflect on the three related themes: community, narrative, and emotion. They argue for the need to understand patients and caregivers alike as moral agents who are embedded in multiple communities, who seek to attain or promote healing partly through the medium of storytelling, and who do so by cultivating good emotional habits. A thought-provoking contribution to a field that has long been dominated by an ethics of principle, "Medicine and the Ethics of Care" will appeal to scholars and students who want to move beyond the constraints of that traditional approach.

Can harsh interrogation techniques and torture ever be morally justified for a nation at war or under the threat of imminent attack? In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist strikes, the United States and other liberal democracies were forced to grapple once again with the issue of balancing national security concerns against the protection of individual civil and political rights. This question was particularly poignant when US forces took prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq who arguably had information about additional attacks. In this volume, ethicist Paul Lauritzen takes on ethical debates about counterterrorism techniques that are increasingly central to US foreign policy and discusses the ramifications for the future of interrogation. Lauritzen examines how doctors, lawyers, psychologists, military officers, and other professionals addressed the issue of the appropriate limits in interrogating detainees. In the case of each of these professions, a vigorous debate ensued about whether the interrogation policy developed by the Bush administration violated codes of ethics governing professional practice. These codes are critical, according to Lauritzen, because they provide resources for democracies and professionals seeking to balance concerns about safety with civil liberties, while also shaping the character of those within these professional guilds. This volume argues that some of the techniques used at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere were morally impermissible; nevertheless, the healthy debates that raged among professionals provide hope that we may safeguard human rights and the rule of law more effectively in the future.

The essays included in this volume of the JSCE are fairly typical in that they reflect issues of perennial interest to members of the Society of Christian Ethics--from concerns about poverty and violence to questions about the virtues necessary to avoid a politics of despair. For example, John Langan's essay--which is a revised version of his presidential address to the SCE--focuses on the political situation in the United States after the election of 2004. His meditation on the virtue of hope transcends this specific context and is directly relevant to several of the other essays we publish here. Although we could catalog the many connections across these essays, we leave that to our readers. Suffice it to say that thanks to the talented authors who have shared their work with us; we are delighted to bring out another rich and provocative volume.

Formerly known as "The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics", it will now bear the official title: "Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics". Instead of appearing as an annual, the Journal will appear twice a year - in the spring and in the fall. "The Journal" will continue to be an essential resource for students and faculty pursuing the latest developments in Christian and religious ethics, publishing refereed scholarly articles as well as a professional resources section on teaching and scholarship in ethics - a preeminent source for further research.

"Contents: " Maria Antonaccio, "Asceticism, Ethics, and Contemporary Culture"; John Bowlin, "Tolerance Among the Fathers"; Jennifer Herdt, "Virtue's Semblance: Erasmus and Luther on Pagan Virtue and the Christian Life"; Mary Hirschfeld, "Standard of Living and Economic Virtue: Building a Bridge Between Aquinas and the 21st Century; Jan Jans, "The Belgian Act on Euthanasia"; John Langan, "Hope in and for the United States"; Melissa Snarr, "A New Discipline? Beverly Harrison and 'Malestream' Christian Ethics"; and Linda Hogan, Edna McDonagh, Stanley Hauerwas, "The Case for the Abolition of War in the Twenty-First Century."

"Ideals and Injuries: The Denial of Difference in the Construction of Christian Family Ideals" byGloria H. Albrecht; "The Religious Dimension of Ordinary Human Emotions" by Diana Fritz Cates; "Because . . . Justifying Law/Rationalizing Ethics" byJonathan K. Crane; "Self-Interest, Deprivation, and Agency: Expanding the Capabilities Approach" by Douglas A. Hicks; "Mapping 'Whiteness'" by Alex Mikulich; "The Persistence of Injustice: Challenging Some Dominant Assumptions" by Joe Pettit; "Women, Beauty, and Justice: Moving Beyond von Balthasar" by Susan A. Ross; "Ethics, Law, Economics: Legal Regulation of Corporate Responsibility" by Jonathan Rothchild; "Touch on Trial: Power and the Right to Physical Affection" by Christina Traina; "Humanities and Atrocities" by Sumner B. Twiss; and "Humanities and Atrocities: A Response to Twiss" by Paul Lauritzen.

The possibility that human beings may soon be cloned has generated enormous anxiety and fueled a vigorous debate about the ethics of contemporary science. Unfortunately, much of this debate about cloning has treated cloning as singular and revolutionary. The essays in Cloning and the Future of Human Embryo Research place debates about cloning in the context of reproductive technology and human embryo research. Although novel, cloning is really just the next step in a series of reproductive interventions that began with in vitro fertilization in 1978. Cloning, embryo research, and reproductive technology must therefore be discussed together in order to be understood. The authors of this volume bring these topics together by examining the status of preimplantation embryos, debates about cloning and embryo research, and the formulation of public policy. The book is distinctive in framing cloning as inextricably tied to embryo research and in offering both secular and religious perspectives on cloning and embryo research.