The term bioethics was first used in the early 1970s by biologists who were concerned about ethical implications of genetic and ecological interventions, but was soon applied to all aspects of biomedical ethics, including health care delivery, research, and public policy. Its literature draws from disciplines as varied as clinical medicine and nursing, scientific research, theology and philosophy, law, and the social sciences—each with its own distinctive vocabulary and expressions.
A Handbook of Bioethics Terms is a handy and concise glossary-style reference featuring over 400 entries on the significant terms, expressions, titles, and court cases that are most important to the field. Most entries are cross-referenced, making this handbook a valuable addition to the bookshelves of undergraduate and graduate students in health care ethics, physicians and nurses, members of institutional ethics committees and review boards, and others interested in bioethics.
A sampling of terms from the handbook:
Abortion
DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)
Eugenics
Gene therapy
Living will
Natural law
Primum non nocere
Single-payer system
Surrogate consent
Schiavo case
Sample Definitions:
Formalism: In ethical theory, a type of deontology in which an action is judged to be right if it is in accord with a moral rule, and wrong if it violates a moral rule.
Xenograft: Organ or tissue transplanted from one individual to another individual of another species. (See Transplantation, organ and tissue)
Reviews
"A valuable addition to the bioethics literature. It offers a clear, comprehensive, and reliable guide to key terms in bioethics discourse. It will be a treasure for students and others pursuing bioethics."—James F. Childress, Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics and director of the Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life, University of Virginia
"A superb supplementary text for any course in bioethics. . . . a very useful, comprehensive, accurate, clear, and concise explanation of the vast majority of core concepts and terms that are likely to be introduced in a contemporary bioethics course."—Leonard M. Fleck, Michigan State University
About the Author
James B. Tubbs Jr. is professor of ethics and religion and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Detroit Mercy.
