This volume joins other recently published works on the ethical and legal considerations of life-sustaining treatments. Sherlock and Dingus focus on medical decision making involving children and incompetent adults, and the issue of how these decisions should be made. Discussion begins with the various meanings of family and the psychosocial issues in family involvement. The authors explore differences in decision making for the incompetent adult and for the child, and consider the pros and cons of family decision making as well as alternative decision making methods. They argue for an ethics committee review of selected difficult cases. The use of relevant cases to depict the legal aspects involved in medical decision making for children and incompetent adults helps clarify the issues involved. . . . A valuable reference for graduate or professional collections. Choice Written by a specialist in medical ethics and a practicing medical psychologist, this book is a comprehensive review of the complex issues involved in family decisionmaking in medicine. Although much has been written about the treatment of seriously ill patients, little has been written about those involved in the complicated decisionmaking process for incompetent patients. This volume, therefore, fills an important gap in the literature. In addition to treating general issues in ethics and psychology, the authors also address the realities of actual clinical decisionmaking, setting their work apart from more traditional studies of medical ethics.

Ethical Issues in Biotechnology is the first textbook of its kind, written collaboratively by a philosopher and a biologist to provide undergraduate students with a comprehensive, accessible introduction to the ethical and scientific fundamentals of biotechnology. Engaging the ethics and the science side by side, the text addresses pressing questions in agricultural, food, and animal biotechnology; human genetics; gene therapy; human cloning; and stem cell research. A general introduction to both the moral philosophy and fundamentals of genetics is enhanced throughout the text with section-specific introductions addressing the particular philosophical and scientific challenges posed by the topic under consideration. Diagrams and drawings, study cases, liberal use of practical examples, and suggestions for further reading make the text an ideal resource for a broad range of students interested in issues and questions lying at the intersection of philosophy and genetics.

Religion and Terrorism: The Use of Violence in Abrahamic Monotheism provides theoretical analysis of the nature of religious terrorism and religious martyrdom and also delves deeply into terrorist groups and beliefs in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Religious terrorism is found in all three of the great monotheistic faiths, and while the public is most aware of Islamic terrorism, Jewish and Christian faiths have extremist groups that warp their teaching -in ways unrecognizable to most adherents- to support terrorism. This work will be of interest to scholars in religious studies, political science, and sociology.