The Basics of Bioethics

The Basics of Bioethics, Fifth Edition offers a compelling introduction to the fascinating, ever-evolving field of bioethics. Accessible and richly informative for readers from all backgrounds, this book provides an essential foundation in theories and concepts, which are then applied to numerous thought-provoking cases and contemporary questions.

Chapters are organized around common moral themes in order to help readers understand the values and other connections that tie together different positions in bioethics. Since the last edition, the field of bioethics has had to grapple with additional challenges, critiques, and difficult decisions. Readers are guided through the ethical complexities of abortion, medical aid in dying, genetic engineering, posthumous reproduction, biomedical research, and organ transplantation, among other topics.

Key changes to the Fifth Edition include:

• A new chapter dedicated to public health emergencies, incorporating key lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that are relevant for future crisis planning.
• An introduction to disability ethics among non-principlist approaches, which continues to grow in influence in bioethics.
• Statistics and references have been supplemented across all chapters, integrating more international perspectives and data.
• New and updated cases illustrating a range of contemporary bioethical issues.
• Updated references and Key Concepts at the end of each chapter.

Laura K. Guidry-Grimes is Staff Bioethicist at Cleveland Clinic with faculty appointments at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University. She provides clinical ethics consultation and teaches bioethics to practitioners, trainees, and students across disciplines. She co-authored the 4th Edition of The Basics of Bioethics (2019) and co-edited Applying Nonideal Theory to Bioethics: Living and Dying in a Nonideal World (with Elizabeth Victor, 2021) and Moral Expertise: New Essays from Theoretical and Clinical Bioethics (with Jamie Carlin Watson, 2018).

Robert M. Veatch, before his passing in 2020, was Senior Research Scholar and Professor of Medical Ethics, Emeritus, and former Director at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University. While co-author to the previous 4th Edition of The Basics of Bioethics (2019), he also authored, co-authored, or edited 60 additional books including Hippocratic, Religious, and Secular Medical Ethics (2012), Case Studies in Biomedical Ethics (with Amy Haddad and Dan English, 2015), Transplantation Ethics (with Lainie F. Ross, 2015), and Defining Death: The Case for Choice (with Lainie F. Ross, 2016).