Description: This book is the first broad history of the growing field of bioethics. Covering the period 1947-1987, it examines the origin and evolution of the debates over human experimentation, genetic engineering, organ transplantation, termination of life-sustaining treatment, and new reproductive technologies. It assesses the contributions of philosophy, theology, law and the social sciences to the expanding discourse of bioethics. Written by one of the field's founders, it is based on extensive archival research into resources that are difficult to obtain and on interviews with many leading figures. A very readable account of the development of bioethics, the book stresses the history of ideas but does not neglect the social and cultural context and the people involved.
Review Quotes: "Bioethics, Albert Jonsen observes in the introduction to his important, highly personal, and readable book, did not begin with a bang. But what becomes very clear as one reads his recollections of the origins of the field, is that it did not begin with people prone to emit whimpers...Jonsen brings an elephantine memory and a deft pen to telling the story of what happened when the first theologians, philosophers, and physicians found themselves out on these ethical frontiers of medicine without much in the way of intellectual tools to help them."--Arthur Kaplan in The Journal of the American Medical Association
"Al Jonsen's warmth, humour and encyclopaedic knowledge of the American Bioethics scene are evident throughout, and, despite its size, the book rarely fails to be both informative and engaging." -Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy"In The Birth of Bioethics Jonsen has written an in-depth review of bioethics, including a historical analysis of the field...This material should inform even sophisticated readers...Jonsen's depictions of the pioneers in bioethics whom he knew and worked with are vivid...Jonsen's unique insights, infused by the compassion he obviously feels, recommend this book strongly."--Edmund G. Howe in The New England Journal of Medicine"A 'must-read' for all students of bioethics, on either side of the lectern, and for anyone interested in contemporary American culture."--Felicia Cohn in Religious Studies Review"Albert Jonsen, a bioethics pioneer in his own right, is also a gifted writer of clear and arresting prose, a trait not widely found in bioethics circles. As part of a larger goal to evaluate the influence of the field of bioethics, Jonsen aims for "an accurate historical recounting of why and how the field came into being." The result is an intensely interesting history that will provoke many critical and constructive responses...it is a singular success..."--John C. Fletcher in Medical Humanities Review"As a remarkable scholarly achievement, Professor Jonsen's book will be of interest to those in the field, as well as those concerned more generally to know what US bioethics is, where it was, and where it might be going." --Associated Medical Services"This book is a narrative of the emergence of Bioethics in the United States in the period 1947 to 1987, written by one of the pioneers and major scholars in the field...this lengthy volume is rightly seen as the magnum opus of a single author, and it bears his distinctive stamp. Al Jonsen's warmth, humour and encyclopaedic knowledge of the American Bioethics scene are evident throughout, and despite its size, the book rarely fails to be both informative and engaging. It surely must be read by anyone interested in the transformation of traditional medical ethics in the last half of this century into the wide-ranging, multidisciplinary enterprise of Bioethics."--Alastair V. Campbell in Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy