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Bioethics in a Liberal Society: The Political Framework of Bioethics Decision Making - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Bioethics in a Liberal Society: The Political Framework of Bioethics Decision Making

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Issues concerning patients' rights are at the center of bioethics, but the political basis for these rights has rarely been examined. In Bioethics in a Liberal Society: The Political Framework of Bioethics Decision Making, Thomas May offers a compelling analysis of how the political context of liberal constitutional democracy shapes the rights and obligations of both patients and health care professionals. May focuses on how a key feature of liberal society--namely, an individual's right to make independent decisions--has an impact on the most important relational facets of health care, such as patients' autonomy and professionals' rights of conscience.

Although a liberal political framework protects individual judgments, May asserts that this right is based on the assumption of an individual's competency to make sound decisions. May uses case studies to examine society's approach to medical decision making when, for reasons ranging from age to severe mental disorder, a person lacks sufficient competency to make independent and fully informed choices. To protect the autonomy of these vulnerable patients, May emphasizes the need for health care ethics committees and ethics consultants to help guide the decision-making process in clinical settings. Bioethics in a Liberal Society is essential reading for all those interested in understanding how bioethics is practiced within our society.

ISBN-13: 9780801892820

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Publication Date: 05-01-2009

Pages: 152

Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)

Age Range: 18 Years

Thomas May is an associate professor and director of Graduate Studies in Bioethics at the Center for the Study of Bioethics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

What People are Saying About This

Mark P. Aulisio

May's book focuses on an extremely important, but much neglected and misunderstood area of bioethics, that is, the implications of a liberal constitutional political framework for bioethical decision-making.

— Mark P. Aulisio, Case Western Reserve University, Center for Biomedical Ethics

From the Publisher

May's book focuses on an extremely important, but much neglected and misunderstood area of bioethics, that is, the implications of a liberal constitutional political framework for bioethical decision-making.
—Mark P. Aulisio, Case Western Reserve University, Center for Biomedical Ethics

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Introduction. The Liberal Framework
Part I. Patient Autonomy
Chapter 2. Patient Autonomy and Informed Consent
Chapter 3. Patient Responsibility for Decision Making
Chapter 4. Advance Directives: Extending Autonomy for Patients
Part II. Professional Rights of Conscience
Chapter 5. Beneficence, Abandonment, and the Duty to Treat
Chapter 6. Rights of Conscience in the Physician-Patient Relationship
Chapter 7. Conclusion. Health Care Ethics Committees and Consultants in a Liberal Framework
References
Index