The ethical canary : science, society and the human spirit / Margaret Somerville.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Somerville, Margaret A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bioethics.

Science--Moral and ethical aspects.

Science.

Physical Description:

xv, 344 p.

Edition:

[Pbk. ed.].

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Every day we hear news about medical or scientific breakthroughs and the complex ethical issues they raise. Feats that were never before possible, including cloning, genetically modifying food, mapping human chromosomes, and using animal organs for human transplants, have opened up a Pandora's box of ethical questions. Technology is advancing at such rate that the issue is not so much what we can do but rather whether we will do it. Margaret Somerville, a leading international authority on medicine, ethics, and the law, demonstrates that society must set ethically acceptable limits on scientific advances. In this controversial, and timely book Somerville sheds light on the urgent ethical and legal questions that vie for our attention. Along the way, she calls upon us to recognize the mysteries that lie at the heart of our lives and the metaphysical reality that gives meaning to life. The Ethical Canary is a major contribution to the debate about the hottest issues in ethics today, from one of the world's leading authorities.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Preface to the Paperback Edition

Prologue

Searching for Ethics in a Secular Society

Making and Un-Making Babies

Immortalizing Our Genetic Selves

Crossing the Animal-Human Divide

Dealing with Death

Terminating Life Support without Consent

Pushing Parents to the Sidelines

Altering Baby Boys’ Bodies

Denying Health Care to Individuals

Structuring Healthcare Systems

Creating an Ethics Toolbox

Epilogue

Sources

Acknowledgements

Index

Notes:

"First published in Viking by Penguin Books Canada Limited, 2000"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [303]-320) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-86288-X

9786612862885

0-7735-7220-1

OCLC:

54414769