A Theory of Bioethics

This volume offers a carefully argued, compelling theory of bioethics while eliciting practical implications for a wide array of issues including medical assistance-in-dying, the right to health care, abortion, animal research, and the definition of death. The authors’ dual value theory features mid-level principles, a distinctive model of moral status, a subjective account of well-being, and a cosmopolitan view of global justice. In addition to ethical theory, the book investigates the nature of harm and autonomous action, personal identity theory, and the “non-identity problem” associated with many procreative decisions. Readers new to particular topics will benefit from helpful introductions; specialists will appreciate in-depth theoretical explorations and a novel take on various practical issues; and all readers will benefit from the book’s original synoptic vision of bioethics. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

David DeGrazia is Elton Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University. In addition to several books, including Taking Animals Seriously (1996), Human Identity and Bioethics (2005), and Creation Ethics (2012), he has written numerous book chapters and journal articles on applied ethics, moral philosophy, and the philosophy of mind and cognitive sciences.

Joseph Millum is a bioethicist at the US National Institutes of Health. He is author of The Moral Foundations of Parenthood (2018) and coeditor of Global Health Priority-setting (2020). His research, which has appeared in journals including The BMJ and Ethics, focuses on consent, international research ethics, priority-setting for health care and research, and parenting.