Medical Ethics, Ordinary Concepts and Ordinary Lives

222 Pages·2007·1.46 MB·English

by  Chris Cowley

Medical Ethics, Ordinary
Concepts and Ordinary
Lives
Christopher Cowley
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Medical Ethics, Ordinary Concepts and Ordinary Lives
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Medical Ethics,
Ordinary Concepts
and Ordinary Lives
Christopher Cowley
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© Christopher Cowley 2008
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90
Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2008 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN-13: 978–0–230–50690–9 hardback
ISBN-10: 0–230–50690–9 hardback
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by
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Elišce a Františce
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction xi
Part I A Critique of Mainstream Medical Ethics 1
1. Technical Language and Ordinary Language 3
Fearless thinkers and monstrous thoughts 8
Standing behind one’s words 13
Conceptual revision 18
2. Ways of Seeing 23
The vegetarian and the carnivore 25
Conscientious objection 32
The limits to a philosopher’s authority 38
Part II Matters of Birth and Life 45
3. The Place of Pregnancy and Birth in Human Lives 47
Creation and flesh 51
The problem with descriptions 55
Learning to love 60
4. The Clash of Perspectives 65
Individuals and uniqueness 68
Responses to Warnock, Harris and Glover 70
The paradox of non-directive counselling 77
Resource allocation and the clash of perspectives 82
5. The Abortion Debates 86
Arbitrariness and potential 88
Women and mothers 92
Attitudes to life 94
Proximity and authority 100
vii
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viii Table of Contents
6. The Shape of a Life 104
Dialogue 108
Momentous decisions 112
The change in the person 116
Old age as the last chapter in the story 119
Part III Matters of Life and Death 123
7. The Problem of Suicide 125
Horror and pity 129
Diane Pretty 136
The ethics of palliative care 141
8. Making Sense of Dementia 148
The problem of personal identity 150
Fear, pity and mockery 154
9. Human Bodies 161
The Alder Hey scandal 169
The post mortem 173
10. The Euthanasia Debates 177
Futility, best interests and arbitrariness 182
Implications of Keown’s position 186
The symbolic and the regulatory role of the law 189
Notes 193
Bibliography 198
Index 201