Bioethics: Questions of Life and Death
Ethical Dilemmas at the Beginning and End of Life
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What are ethics? What is morality? How can one behave in a moral manner? These are among the most difficult and most interesting questions which face people of any age. Today, however, with advancing technology, difficult moral situations come upon us faster than we can even create the questions, much less find the answers.
This guide includes selected essays that address both general issues and specific questions in the area of moral philosophy as it relates to both the beginning and the end of life. What is life and what does it mean to be alive? What is death and is there any "bright line" that allows us to definitively say that someone is no longer alive but is now dead?
What is Death?
Just what does it mean to be "alive," and what is "death"? There are three general definitions of "death" used today, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Each also has important ethical implications on how we treat patients and what it means to be a "person."Selling Organs
Should people be allowed to sell their organs? Currently, exchanging organs for money or other "valuable considerations" is illegal, but some members of the medical and business communities would like to change that. Would this, however, lead to the exploitation of the poor?Xenotransplants
Should we transplant organs to humans from other animals? Is it worth the risk of causing a new disease to attack humans?Organ Transplants for Condemned Prisoners
As the prison population in America grows in numbers and increases in age, questions and debates about the allocation of medical resources to prisoners will grow in urgency. One issue which arises every so often is whether convicted felons, especially those who are awaiting capital punishment, should receive the same level of medical care as others in society - including scarce donor organs for the purpose of transplantation.Artificial Wombs: the End of Natural Motherhood?
Some day - probably later rather than sooner, but you never really know - medical science will advance to the point where we can create artificial wombs. This would allow us to grow a fetus outside of the mother's body - but should we?Drug Use & Fetal Abuse
Should women who abuse drugs while they are pregnant be charged with delivery of drugs to a minor and child abuse after their baby is born? There is an increasing movement among prosecutors and conservative politicians to do exactly that, leading to growing numbers of women who are charged and convicted of child abuse which occurred before their child was even a part of society.Genes and Identity
The question how a person establishes and maintains an identity is a thorny one. Everyone seems to feel the need for some way to identify themselves in a complex and variable world; the problem is, it's not exactly clear just what "identity" should entail. Is it more about who you are as a person, right now, or is more about "what" you are, in the sense of your heritage and cultural background?
Glossary: Religion & Philosophy
This extensive glossary provides detailed information on philosophical and religious concepts, from
abandonment to
Zeno of Elea!
(over 2400 entries total)
