... engaging and readable ... True to his vision, Jonsen shows how we can use the techniques of reason and the insights and sympathies of practicing bioethicists to understand the persistent questions not just of bioethics but of our human predicament: Who lives? Who dies? Who decides?

Larry Hultgren, Metaphysical

The book is written in a clear and engaging style, and nicely blends a description of current issues with quite a bit of historical background…There is relatively little jargon or technical terminology; people who are looking for extensive discussions of Kant or deontology will not find it here. What the reader does get, happily, is the wisdom of one of the leading bioethicists, distilled into a very palatable form.

Depaul Journal Of Health Care Law

This book succeeds as both a primer in bioethics and a prime to further exploration by the curious and concerned, an endeavor assisted by excellent topical lists of sources. Jonsen provides a thorough review of numerous issues in bioethics, focusing each chapter on one or two headline cases but then exploring the specific topic broadly but in surprising depth. It provides a finely grained and clearly informative view of bioethics.

Choice Reviews