Bioethical Decision Making and Argumentation

by Pedro Serna (Editor), Josï-Antonio Seoane (Editor)

Overview

This book clarifies the meaning of the most important and pervasive concepts and tools in bioethical argumentation (principles, values, dignity, rights, duties, deliberation, prudence) and assesses the methodological suitability of the main methods for clinical decision-making and argumentation. The first part of the book is devoted to the most developed or promising approaches regarding bioethical argumentation, namely those based on principles, values and human rights. The authors then continue to deal with the contributions and shortcomings of these approaches and suggest further developments by means of substantive and procedural elements and concepts from practical philosophy, normative systems theory, theory of action, human rights and legal argumentation. Furthermore, new models of biomedical and health care decision-making, which overcome the aforementioned criticism and stress the relevance of the argumentative responsibility, are included.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319434179
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Series:	International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine , #70
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	143
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Pedro Serna (Universidad Internacional de La Rioja-Universidade da Coruña, Spain); Foreword.- 1. om L. Beauchamp; Georgetown University, U.S.) Principlism in bioethics.- 2. Diego Gracia (Fundación de Ciencias de la Salud, Madrid, Spain) Values and Bioethics.- 3. Roberto Andorno (University of Zurich, Switzerland); A human rights approach to bioethics.- 4. Carolina Pereira (Universidade da Coruña, Spain); Philosophical Imperialism? A Critical View of North American Principlist Bioethics.- 5. Óscar Vergara (Universidade da Coruña, Spain);Principlism and normative systems.- 6. Pilar Zambrano (University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain); Types of action and criteria for individualizing them: the case of omission of life-saving care.- 7. José-Antonio Seoane (Universidade da Coruña, Spain); Bioethics, deliberation and argumentation.- 8. Juan Cianciardo (University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain); Proportionality principle, rights theory and double effect doctrine.- 9. Vicente Bellver Capella (University of Valencia, Spain); International bioethics committees: conditions for a good deliberation.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Michelle Bach, MA (Saint Louis University)
Description: This edited book constructs a cogent and multifaceted exploration of the methodology of bioethical reasoning and decision-making. After lucid descriptions of the theoretical and procedural foundations of Beauchamp and Childress' principlism, the authors offer novel critiques of principlism as well as proposals for alternative models of decision-making.
Purpose: The purpose is to present a critical analysis of the predominant paradigm of bioethical reasoning, principlism, and to propose alternative models of bioethical decision-making that combine "substantive principles and procedural guidelines." There are many critiques of principlism already, but this book positively contributes to the debate by offering a unique international and legal perspective.
Audience: The target audience is bioethics scholars, and the book is appropriate for readers already familiar with principlism and moral reasoning. While it prioritizes a perspective from the philosophy of law, it is written accessibly and is appropriate for an interdisciplinary audience.
Features: The strength of this book lies in its focused analysis of the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of principlism and other models of moral decision-making. The authors do not debate the practical application of specific principles, but rather interrogate the theoretical justifications and procedural potency of models of bioethical decision-making. Especially useful is an introductory chapter by Beauchamp that presents a concise, updated review of the philosophical maneuvering underlying principlism, such as the method of progressive specification and its justification through coherence to a common morality. Subsequent chapters include original critiques of principlism (especially notable is Pereira-Saez' characterization of principlism as "philosophical imperialism") and proposals for alternative models such as the deliberation model and a human rights-based approach. The book concludes with several essays that persuasively use legal theory to enrich models of bioethical argumentation and decision-making.
Assessment: Overall, this book offers a sophisticated approach to an important problem in bioethics. While it is far from an exhaustive treatment of bioethical reasoning and decision-making, it makes a valuable contribution by offering salient critiques of principlism and demonstrating the value of legal theory for refining the project of bioethics. Importantly, this book brings European and North American approaches into dialogue.

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