The connected self : the ethics and governance of the genetic individual / Heather Widdows.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Widdows, Heather, 1972- author.

Series:

Cambridge bioethics and law.

Cambridge bioethics and law

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medical ethics.

Human genetics--Research--Moral and ethical aspects.

Human genetics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 205 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Currently, the ethics infrastructure - from medical and scientific training to the scrutiny of ethics committees - focuses on trying to reform informed consent to do a job which it is simply not capable of doing. Consent, or choice, is not an effective ethical tool in public ethics and is particularly problematic in the governance of genetics. Heather Widdows suggests using alternative and additional ethical tools and argues that if individuals are to flourish it is necessary to recognise and respect communal and public goods as well as individual goods. To do this she suggests a two-step process - the 'ethical toolbox'. First the harms and goods of the particular situation are assessed and then appropriate practices are put in place to protect goods and prevent harms. This debate speaks to core concerns of contemporary public ethics and suggests a means to identify and prioritise public and common goods.

Contents:

The individual self and its critics

The individualist assumptions of bioethical frameworks

The genetic self is the connected self

The failures of individual ethics in the genetic era

The communal turn

Developing alternatives: benefit sharing

Developing alternatives: trust

The ethical toolbox part one: recognising goods and harms

The ethical toolbox part two: applying appropriate practices

Possible futures.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-23446-8

1-139-61012-0

1-139-61198-4

1-139-62128-9

1-283-94316-6

1-139-62500-4

1-139-60856-8

1-139-61570-X

1-139-05179-2

OCLC:

823724306