Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law

Foster (medical ethics and law, U. of Oxford, England) places the concept of human dignity at the heart of his approach to medical ethics and bioethics, arguing that every key issue should be approached through a transactional model that assesses whether proposed solutions maximize dignity for the patient, the clinician or researcher, and the wider community, with the meaning of dignity derived from an anthropological perspective on what makes human thrive. This elevation of dignity, he proposes, constitutes a bioethical "theory of everything" that can be applied to problems large and small. In order to support this argument, he explores the history and current construction of the understanding of dignity and then applies the insights from that discussion to consideration of the role of dignity in healthcare law; issues of consent, confidentiality, privacy, medical research, and resources; human enhancement and cloning technologies; reproductive choice and the unborn; the end of life; and the use and abuse of body parts. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Charles Foster is a Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. He teaches medical ethics and law at the University of Oxford, and is also a barrister practising medical law from Outer Temple Chambers, London.