Many people think that animal liberation would require a fundamental transformation of basic beliefs. We would have to give up "speciesism" and start viewing animals as our equals, with rights and moral status. And we would have to apply these beliefs in an all-or-nothing way. But in Ethics and the Beast , Tzachi Zamir makes the radical argument that animal liberation doesn't require such radical arguments--and that liberation could be accomplished in a flexible and pragmatic way. By making a case for liberation that is based primarily on common moral intuitions and beliefs, and that therefore could attract wide understanding and support, Zamir attempts to change the terms of the liberation debate. Without defending it, Ethics and the Beast claims that speciesism is fully compatible with liberation. Even if we believe that we should favor humans when there is a pressing human need at stake, Zamir argues, that does not mean that we should allow marginal human interests to trump the life-or-death interests of animals. As minimalist as it sounds, this position generates a robust liberation program, including commitments not to eat animals, subject them to factory farming, or use them in medical research. Zamir also applies his arguments to some questions that tend to be overlooked in the liberation debate, such as whether using animals can be distinguished from exploiting them, whether liberationists should be moral vegetarians or vegans, and whether using animals for therapeutic purposes is morally blameless.

The awesome medical breakthroughs today raise perplexing ethical questions for the Torah world. Written for the scholar and general reader alike, this second volume in a series contains a treasure trove of information, such as cloning, stem cell research, hazardous medical procedures, controversy concerning circumcision, and more.

In recent decades, American medicine has become increasingly politicized and politics has become increasingly medicalized. Behaviors previously seen as virtuous or wicked, wise or unwise are now dealt with as healthy or sick--unwanted behaviors to be controlled as if they were health issues. The modern penchant for transforming human problems into diseases and judicial sanctions into treatments, replacing the rule of law with the rule of medical discretion, leads to the creation of a type of government social critic Thomas Szasz calls pharmacracy. Medicalizing troublesome behaviors and social problems is tempting to voters and politicians alike: it panders to the people by promising to satisfy their needs for dependence on medical authority and offers easy self-aggrandizement to politicians as the dispensers of more and better health care. Thus, the people gain a convenient scapegoat, enabling them to avoid personal responsibility for their behavior. The government gains a rationale for endless and politically expedient wars against social problems defined as public health emergencies. The health care system gains prestige, funding, and bureaucratic power that only an alliance with the political system can provide. However, Szasz warns, the creeping substitution of pharmacracy for democracy--private medical concerns increasingly perceived as requiring a political response--inexorably erodes personal freedom and dignity. Pharmacracy: Medicine and Politics in America is a clear and convincing presentation of this hidden danger, all too often ignored in our health care debates and avoided in our political contests.

Timely and provocative essays on bioethical questions brought to the forefront by the bioterrorist threat. The war on terrorism and the threat of chemical and biological weapons have brought a new urgency to already complex moral and bioethical questions. In the Wake of Terror presents thought-provoking essays on many of the troubling issues facing American society, written by experts from the fields of medicine, health care policy, law, political science, history, philosophy, and theology. One of the first potential casualties of catastrophic circumstances is civil liberties. In the past, medical experiments conducted for national security purposes have violated ethical standards, and this book questions whether current policy provides sufficient safeguards against further abuses. It also focuses on public health issues, offering contrasting views on the extent to which civil authorities should be allowed to restrict freedom of movement in the name of national security and debating whether aggressive public health interventions improve public confidence and cooperation or detract from them. A major area of concern is preparedness for future terrorist attacks. Chapters are devoted to ethical issues involved in the development, distribution, and rationing of vaccines and antidotes; resource allocation and medical triage; the moral duties of emergency health workers and other first responders; and the obligations of private entities such as managed care organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Contributors also address the implications of terrorism for our health insurance system and the role of genetic advances in bioterrorism. Underlying all of these issues, the authors argue, is the need to maintain a spirit of social solidarity, which can in turn only be achieved if preparations are publicly acknowledged and generally regarded as both prudent and fair.

Philosphical medical ethics forms the basis of the codes of conduct and legal constraints involved in doctors' professional lives. This series of articles presents a British approach to the concepts, assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, and arguments underlying medico-moral decision-making in the context of medical practice. The book serves as an introduction whose aim is to encourage more rigorous analysis of the moral dilemmas confronting all physicians and to contribute to a comprehensive and coherent moral theory for medical practice.

Integrating theory with realistic case studies, this book examines the practical application of moral theory in clinical decision-making. With forty composite cases based on actual clinical experiences, the author describes key moral problems raised by modern medicine. He then demonstrates how these dilemmas can be resolved using a problem-solving framework termed pluralistic casuistry. This approach is pluralistic in that it accepts the relevance of many different moral grounds, drawn from different traditional moral theories, each of which may seem self-contained and hence in conflict with other claims. Consequently, the author stresses the need to achieve a synthesis of these traditional moral theories, rather than treating them as competitors. His approach is casuistrical in the sense that it considers the important differences between the cases at issue and applies the different moral appeals in different ways. The richly detailed case studies will challenge readers, clarify the ethical issues involved, and indicate how theory and practice can be integrated. Containing a multiplicity of factors faced in clinical crises, they are ideal for group discussions concerning the ways in which theory relates to actual life-or-death situations.

Though we are usually unaware of it, the lines of spiritual battle are drawn early in life and persist til our last day. In this intriguing book, the renowned Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. delineates how the tactics of the yetzer hara are carefully tailored to each individual and how tenaciously it attempts to hold us in its grip. "And yet, Dr. Twerski assures us, we each have the ability to triumph over temptation and live productive, holy, Jewish lives. This special book was written to teach us to galvanize our spiritual and emotional resources to battle the specific challenges inherent in today's lifestyle. While the yetzer hara is as old as Creation itself, the inducements at his disposal in our generation are new and varied. Dr. Twerski shows us how to guard ourselves against them. "Utilizing Torah wisdom and his deep insight into human psychology, he pinpoints the many factors that challenge us and recommends techniques to bring them under our control. Addressing pressing problems such as family conflict, at-risk teens and depression, he offers realistic advice blended with Jewish compassion. "Dr. Twerski's counsel is enhanced by the guidance of numerous contemporary Torah sages - including Rabbis Avrohom Pam, Shlomo Wolbe, and Eliezer Menachem Man Shach, among other notables - whose profound comments parallel his own forthright analysis of the roots of our personal and societal problems. "From common anxiety to substance abuse, from the rush of daily obligations to the unique tensions of the "sandwich generation," Dr. Twerski discusses a broad range of modern ills and helps us feel confident that we can, in fact, strengthen our will and overcome them. "Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, a Torah scholar and scion of the founders of the Chassidic movement, is founder and medical director of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center and the author of 40 books. In The Enemy Within, he helps us all gain new insights into our crucial daily battles.

The International Society for Science and Religion has selected Matters of Life and Death as an element of the ISSR Library. The mission of the ISSR Library is "to provide a comprehensive resource for scholars, students, and interested lay readers in the area of science and the human spirit."The incredible medical breakthroughs of today, like genetic engineering, in-vitro fertilizations, and cloning have transformed long-held beliefs on the nature of both life and death, raising difficult moral and religious questions. In Matters of Life and Death Elliot Dorff thoroughly addresses this unavoidable confluence of medical technology and Jewish law and ethics. Elliot N. Dorff, Rabbi (Jewish Theological Seminary), PhD (Columbia University), is rector and Sol and Anne Dorff Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism) in Los Angeles. Among the twelve books he has written are four award-winning books on Jewish ethics and law published by The Jewish Publication Society: Matters of Life and Death (1998) on Jewish medical ethics; To Do the Right and the Good (2002) on Jewish social ethics; Love Your Neighbor and Yourself on Jewish personal ethics; and For the Love of God and People: A Philosophy of Jewish Law (2007). He has also edited 10 books, including Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality (Oxford, 1995) and Contemporary Jewish Theology (Oxford, 1999), co-edited by Louis Newman, who also co-edited with Dorff the first three volumes of the Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices series. Since 1984, Rabbi Dorff has served on the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has served as its Chair since 2007. He has also served on several federal advisory commissions dealing with the ethics of health care, sexual responsibility, and research on human subjects. He is a member of the State of California's Ethics Committee on embryonic stem cell research. He is married to Marlynn, and they have four children and seven grandchildren.

This book analyzes the major issues of research ethics through a careful review of the treatment in official policies on research ethics developed throughout the world (especially North America, Western Europe, and the Pacific Rim). Among the issues covered are animal research, research on human subjects, epidemiological research, genetic research, reproductive research, research on vulnerable subjects, clinical trials, drug approval and the research process, and research on women and minorities. Brody also evaluates the content and the methods of developing these policies in light of his philosophical position of pluralistic casuistry. This is the only book that analyzes all the major issues in research ethics. It is the only book which deals with these issues from an international perspective rather than just a US perspective. Major official policies from important research-intensive countries are reprinted in the appendix (close to 200 plates of otherwise difficult material).

12 essays describe the anger and frustration patients and families often feel towards the health care system.

Introduction -- Bioethics as politics -- Bioethics progressing / Sam Berger and Jonathan D. Moreno -- Can there be a progressive bioethics? / Richard Lempert -- Bioethics as progressive -- Politics, progressivism, and bioethics / R. Alta Charo -- Bioethics : the new conservative crusade / Kathryn Hinsch -- Justice that you must pursue : a progressive American bioethics / Laurie Zoloth -- The sociology of political bioethics -- Professionalism and politics : biomedicalization and the rise of bioethics / Paul Root Wolpe -- The tension between progressive bioethics and religion / John H. Evans -- Can national bioethics commissions be progressive? should they? / Eric M. Meslin -- Conflicting views of biotechnology -- Technoprogressive biopolitics and human enhancement / James J. Hughes -- Biopolitics, mythic science, and progressive values / Marcy Darnovsky -- Progress beyond politics? -- Can bioethics transcend ideology? (and should it?) / Arthur L. Caplan -- A Catholic progressive on care and conscience / Michael Rugnetta -- Reforming health care : ends and means / Daniel Callahan -- Finding common ground in bioethics? / William F. May -- Afterword

This address to practising doctors discusses matters of medical ethics, but is especially aimed at re-establishing idealism in the face of increasing disillusionment and materialism among physicians. The main theme of the book is the question - what is it to be a healer rather than a mechanical fixer of bodies? Typically, this book transcends medicine and broaches principles which apply generally.

"With this one compact statement, Jacob Needleman has forced the discussion of both science and religion in our time into a new, more mature and discriminating phase. . . . It is a way station where those who are seriously exploring the transformation of consciousness will have to stop, take thought, and perhaps re-plot their course."--Theodore Roszak "I want to strongly recommend it to every reader seriously interested in our present cultural situation."--Fritjof Capra "Needleman is unique; he is really on to something. . . . A fine book"--Harvey Cox Western science has operated for centuries on the assumption that we can understand the universe without understanding ourselves. We are just now seeking to make the necessary connection between the general laws of nature to those of our own (inner) nature. But the job won't be done with "massive injections of the new consciousness"; we cannot democratize the sacred by cheapening its demands. "My aim in this book therefore" says Needleman, "has not been to speak of the convergence of science and spirituality, but of their separation. As in nature itself, organic unity is a reciprocal relationship between separate but interdependent entities. In human life as well, there can be no real unity except through the awareness of real divisions. One may then hope to experience the magic power of sustained awareness by itself to bring the harmony that we have until now fruitlessly attempted to impose on ourselves and on our endangered civilization." Jacob Needleman is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University and the author of many books, including Money and the Meaning of Life , and The American Soul . In addition to his teaching and writing, he serves as a consultant in the fields of psychology, education, medical ethics, philanthropy, and business, and has been featured on Bill Moyers's acclaimed PBS series A World of Ideas .

David Daube (1909-1999) was known for his unique and sophisticated research on Roman law, biblical law, Jewish law, and medical ethics. In his second set of Gifford Lectures presented in April and May 1964, Daube derives from his complex understanding of biblical texts both ancient and contemporary notions of wisdom, justice, and education. His thinking bridges the gap between humanism and religion, especially with regard to Christianity and Judaism. With his sophisticated understanding of Talmudic law and literature, his thinking revolutionized prevailing perceptions about the New Testament

Since the late nineteenth century, medicine has sought to foster the birth of healthy children by attending to the bodies of pregnant women, through what we have come to call prenatal care. Women, and not their unborn children, were the initial focus of that medical attention, but prenatal diagnosis in its present form, which couples scrutiny of the fetus with the option to terminate pregnancy, came into being in the early 1970s. Tangled Diagnoses examines the multiple consequences of the widespread diffusion of this medical innovation. Prenatal testing, Ilana Löwy argues, has become mainly a risk-management technology—the goal of which is to prevent inborn impairments, ideally through the development of efficient therapies but in practice mainly through the prevention of the birth of children with such impairments. Using scholarship, interviews, and direct observation in France and Brazil of two groups of professionals who play an especially important role in the production of knowledge about fetal development—fetopathologists and clinical geneticists—to expose the real-life dilemmas prenatal testing creates, this book will be of interest to anyone concerned with the sociopolitical conditions of biomedical innovation, the politics of women’s bodies, disability, and the ethics of modern medicine.

"More than fifty years ago, Thomas Szasz showed that the concept of mental illness - a disease of the mind - is an oxymoron, a metaphor, a myth. Disease, in the medical sense, affects only the body. He also demonstrated that civil commitment and the insanity defense, the paradigmatic practices of psychiatry, are incompatible with the political values of personal responsibility and individual liberty. The psychiatric establishment's rejection of Szasz's critique posed no danger to his work: its defense of coercions and excuses as "therapy" supported his argument regarding the metaphorical nature of mental illness and the transparent immorality of brutal psychiatric control masquerading as humane medical care." "In the late 1960s, the launching of the so-called antipsychiatry movement vitiated Szasz's effort to present a precisely formulated conceptual and political critique of the medical identity of psychiatry. Led by the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, the antipsychiatrists used the term to attract attention to themselves and to deflect attention from what they did, which included coercions and excuses based on psychiatric principles and power." "For this reason, Szasz rejected, and continues to reject, psychiatry and antipsychiatry with equal vigor. Subsuming his work under the rubric of antipsychiatry betrays and negates it just as surely and effectively as subsuming it under the rubric of psychiatry. In Antipsychiatry: Quackery Squared, Szasz argues that his writings belong to neither psychiatry nor antipsychiatry, They stem from conceptual analysis, social-political criticism, and common sense."--BOOK JACKET

THE AMBASSADOR takes place in Europe a hundred years from now. It is a time when the European Union is the supreme leader of the free world, the main challenger to China, with the USA trailing behind. Scientific advance has brought the ability to beat disease and ageing - not by medicine alone but more fundamentally, by gene therapy. In THE AMBASSADOR, Bill Strether is sent by the American President to the UK to represent his country which, captured by fundamentalists, has banned the medical advances taken for granted in his new home. Although he harbours doubts about its ethics, he finds the official genetic programme breathtaking and impossible to condemn. THE AMBASSADOR is an extraordinarily persuasive account of how the world could be. The results could be chilling, even terrifying. Scientific discovery is both Pandora's box and Ali Baba's cave. When faced with the astonishing array of choices offered to us by the new genetic knowledge, how do we choose?

As outlined: "in the Vermont village of Greenfield Center, there is a genial, benevolent and greatly loved old physician who is very proud of his community. It is peopled with fine, wholesome folk, and it appears that Heaven rewards the civic virtue by seeing to it that mostly only those who are wicked at heart die. And the good Dr. Cook, who is willing to go out on sick calls at any hour of the day or night, is determined it should stay in that fortunate condition. When a young physician, who had known and loved Dr. Cook for years, returns to the village for a visit, he is delighted to see his venerable friend and benefactor again. Then a problem of medical ethics arises to haunt him. It may, he concedes, be excusable for a doctor to kill off incurable patients and the hopelessly deformed. But he thinks it is going too far to do away with disagreeable people who happen to be a blot on the fair community." And it is his attempt to make his mentor see reason on this point that brings on the gripping climax of the play, in which the two doctors, young and old, are pitted against each other in a scene of unforgettable, breath-stopping suspense and high drama.