Waubonsee Community College

The biological foundations of bioethics, Tim Lewens

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-216) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The biological foundations of bioethics

bibliography

892895276

Tim Lewens

Much recent thought on the ethics of new biomedical technologies, and work in ethics and political philosophy more generally, is committed to hidden and contestable views about the nature of biological reality. The essays collected in this book, which include two previously unpublished pieces and a substantial introduction, tease out these biological foundations of bioethical writing and subject them to scrutiny. The topics covered include human enhancement, the risks of technical progress, the alleged moral threat of synthetic biology, the reality of human nature, the relevance of evolutionary psychology to social policy, the nature of the distinction between health and disease, and justice in healthcare decision-making. -- Provided by publisher

Introduction : the biological foundations of bioethics -- Part I. Bettering nature. Enhancement and human nature : the case of Sandel -- The risks of progress : precaution and the case of human enhancement -- Human nature : the very idea -- From Bricolage to BioBricks [TM] : synthetic biology and rational design -- Origins, parents, and non-identity -- Part II. Biology in ethics and political philosophy. Development aid : on ontogeny and ethics -- Prospects for evolutionary policy -- What are 'natural inequalities'? -- Foot note -- Health, naturalism, and policy