Ethics of Health Care: An Introductory Textbook

by Benedict M. Ashley, Kevin D. O'Rourke

In the wake of the successful cloning of animals and the promises ― or fears ― of stem cell research, new discoveries in science and medicine need more than ever to be accompanied by careful moral reflection. Contending that concern over the ethical dimensions of these and other like issues are no longer just in the domain of those involved in medical practice, the third edition of Ethics of Health Care claims these are vital topics that should matter deeply to all citizens.

While stressing the Catholic tradition in health care ethics, Ethics of Health Care is ecumenical, incorporating a broader Christian tradition as well as humanistic approaches, and takes as common ground for mutual understanding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. This new third edition is a response to the many developments in theology and the startlingly rapid changes in the arenas of medicine and health care over the past decade, from the dominance of managed care to increased surgery on an "outpatient" basis; from hospice care for the dying to the increasing use of drugs in the treatment of mental illness.

Revised and thoroughly up-to-date, this third edition continues with its valuable teaching aids, including case studies, study questions, chapter summaries, a bibliography, and complete index.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Benedict M. Ashley, O.P. is Emeritus Professor of Moral Theology at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. Before his conversion to Catholicism, Fr. Ashley was a professed atheist and communist. He found his way to the Church through his study of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas under Mortimer Adler at the University of Chicago. Before his ordination to the priesthood through the Order of Preachers in 1948, he received his Doctorate in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Ashley also holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a Master’s in Sacred Theology. He is an Associate Faculty of Philosophy for the Institute for Advanced Physics, and was a Senior Fellow of the National Catholic Center for Bioethics. Among Fr. Ashley’s books is Health Care Ethics, co-authored in 1975, a fundamental text on the topic of Catholic medical ethics, now in its fifth edition.