Introduction -- When does a human being become a person? -- All human beings are persons -- How is the dignity of the person as agent recognized? Distinguishing intention from foresight -- An ethical assessment of Bush's guidelines for stem cell research -- Moral absolutism and ectopic pregnancy -- Could artificial wombs end the abortion debate? -- Solomon's dilemma: should conjointed twins Jodie and Mary have been separated? -- Capital punishment and the Catholic tradition: contradiction, circumstantial application, or development of doctrine?
Summary
"The Edge of Life: Human Dignity and Contemporary Bioethics resituates bioethics in fundamental outlook by challenging both the dominant Kantian and utilitarian approaches to evaluating how new technologies apply to human life. Drawing on an analysis of the dignity of the human person, both as an agent and as the recipient of action, The Edge of Life presents a "theoretical" approach to the problems of contemporary bioethics and applies this approach to various disputed questions."--Jacket
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-155)