Author Description

This book provides a clear and stimulating introduction to bioethics - from the more familiar debates on euthanasia, living wills and new reproductive technologies such as IVF, through to the philosophical implications of recent developments in genetics such as prenatal genetic therapy, genetic enhancement and human cloning. The book offers a clear and stimulating textbook introduction to contemporary issues in bioethics; it provides original and provocative contributions to ongoing debates; it guides the reader from the more familiar debates on euthanasia, advance directives, and new reproductive technologies, through to the philosophical implications of developments such as prenatal genetic therapy, genetic enhancement and human cloning. The book is built around four important themes: the nature of moral status (e.g. of embryos or animals); life, death, and killing (e.g. euthanasia); the threat to personal identity; the question of whether biomedical innovations can be "unnatural." -- Publisher description.