Bücher der Reihe Catholic Studies in Bioethics

For centuries the Roman Catholic Church has been concerned with the moral implications of medical practice. Indeed, until two decades ago, Catholic moral theologians were the major source of moral guidance, scholarly reflection and teaching on a variety of medical-moral topics, particularly those bearing on human life. Many, not only those within the Catholic communion, turned to the Church for guidance as each new possibility for altering the conditions of human life posed new challenges to long held moral values. Two decades ago, the center of gravity of ethical reflection shifted sharply from theologians and Christian philosophers to more secular thinkers. A confluence of forces was responsible for this metamorphosi- an exponential rate of increase in medical technologies, expanded education of the public, the growth of participatory democracy, the entry of courts and legislation into what had previously been private matters, the trend of morality towards pluralism and individual freedom and the depreciation of church and religious doctrines generally. Most significant was the entry of professional philosophers into the debate, for the first time. It is a curious paradox that, until the mid-sixties, professional philosophers largely ignored medical ethics. Today they are the most influential shapers of public and professional opinion.

This work is a comprehensive explanation, rooted in Catholic anthropology and moral theory, of the meaning and limits of informed and proxy consent to experimentation on human subjects. It articulates this rationale in therapeutic and non-therapeutic settings.

This volume comprises various viewpoints representing a Catholic perspective on contemporary practices in medicine and biomedical research. The Roman Catholic Church has had a significant impact upon the formulation and application of moral values and principles to a wide range of controversial issues in bioethics.

Because it occurs at the end of life, palliative sedation raises a number of important ethical and legal questions, including whether it is a covert form of euthanasia and for what purposes it may legally be used.

"Bioethicists have achieved consensus on two ideas pertaining to beginning of life issues: (1) persons are those beings capable of higher-order cognition, or self-consciousness, and (2) it is impermissible to kill only persons.

Any list of the most influential figures of the second half of the twentieth century would arguably have to begin with the name of Pope John Paul II.

Infertility: A Crossroad of Faith, Medicine, and Technology brings together a diverse group of clinicians, theologians, and philosophers to examine the use of reproductive technologies in the light of the Roman Catholic moral tradition and recent teaching.

Pope John Paul II surprised much of the medical world in 2004 with his strongly worded statement insisting that patients in a persistent vegetative state should be provided with nutrition and hydration.

The strength of this collection of essays is its careful consideration, from a variety of perspectives within the Catholic tradition, of the practice of embryo adoption.

"Bioethicists have achieved consensus on two ideas pertaining to beginning of life issues: (1) persons are those beings capable of higher-order cognition, or self-consciousness, and (2) it is impermissible to kill only persons.

Any list of the most influential figures of the second half of the twentieth century would arguably have to begin with the name of Pope John Paul II.

The Edge of Life: Human Dignity and Contemporary Bioethics treats a number of distinct moral questions and ?nds their answer in the dignity of the person, both as an agent and as a patient (in the sense of the recipient of action).