Reconceiving Medical Ethics

Christopher Cowley is Lecturer in Philosophy at University College Dublin, Ireland. His previous publications include Medical Ethics: Ordinary Concepts, Ordinary Lives (Palgrave, 2008).

• Introduction Christopher Cowley; Part I: The Patient's Perspective; 1. The Body As Subject and Object of Suffering Guy Widdershoven; 2. The Body: Property, Commodity or Gift? Alastair Campbell; 3. Autonomy, Understanding and Informed Consent David Levy; 4. Conceptions of Fate, Luck and Responsibility Nafsika Athanassoulis; 5. Lay Understandings of Genes and Genetic Illnesses Ruth Wilkinson; 6. The Patient's Religious Beliefs Alastair Campbell; 7. Mental Illness and Medical Ethics Julian Hughes; 8. Old Age and Dependency Mark Wicclair; 9. Terminal Illness and Palliative Care Guy Widdershoven; Part II: The Doctor's Perspective; 10. Truth-Telling, Medical Advice and Paternalism Christopher Cowley; 11. The Character of a Doctor: Attitudes to Suffering and Death; 12. Clinical and Ethical Judgement Julian Hughes; 13. The Role of Conscience in Medicine Mark Wicclair; 14. Medical Education Nafsika Athanassoulis; 15. Reconceiving Feminist Medical Ethics; 16. The Role of the Law in Medicine Richard Huxtable; Bibliography; Index.

There is a crying need for thoughtful work which reexamines the now rather sclerotic assumptions of academic philosophical medical ethics. Dr Cowley and his colleagues have met this need in fine style.This is an invaluable collection!