Description

The purpose of this valuable book is to consider recent cultural trends in bioethics from a Catholic perspective. The first section describes modern cultural notions of health and human suffering. It examines the meaning of suffering in the contemporary world and relates this discussion to the ethical issues surrounding abortion, euthanasia, and the competing conceptions of health. The second section discusses the philosophical origins of the culture war through an examination of the problematic bases of various forms of moral relativism and its inability to guide moral action. The third section contextualizes this abstract discussion in the current political and legal debate on biotechnology, marriage, and the family. Bioethics is intended for a lay audience interested in understanding bioethical issues from a Catholic perspective.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Editor's Note: Nicholas C. Lund-Molfese; Michael L. Kelly
Chapter 2 Introduction: Francis Cardinal George
Chapter 3 Part I. A Modern Culture War: Health and Human Suffering: What is the Culture War About?; What is Health? What is Disease?
Chapter 4 Part II. Philosophical Roots of the Moral Debate: Are There Specific Exceptionless Moral Norms?; A Refutation of Moral Relativism
Chapter 5 Part III. Law and Public Morality: Science, Law, and the Culture of Death; The Public Morality of Having Children
Chapter 6 Index
Chapter 7 Contributors

Product details

Published Dec 07 2004
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 100
ISBN 9780761829188
Imprint University Press of America
Dimensions 229 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Related Titles

Environment: Staging