The connected self
Subtitle: the ethics and governance of the genetic individual
By: Heather Widdows
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 203
ISBN-13: 9781107008601
Subjects: Medical ethics; Moral and ethical aspects; Human genetics; Research
Description: [Publisher-supplied data] Currently, the ethics infrastructure -- from medical and scientific training to the scrutiny of ethics committees -- focuses on trying to reform informed consent to do a job which it is simply not capable of doing. Consent, or choice, is not an effective ethical tool in public ethics and is particularly problematic in the governance of genetics. Heather Widdows suggests using alternative and additional ethical tools and argues that if individuals are to flourish it is necessary to recognise and respect communal and public goods as well as individual goods. To do this she suggests a two-step process -- the 'ethical toolbox'. First the harms and goods of the particular situation are assessed and then appropriate practices are put in place to protect goods and prevent harms. This debate speaks to core concerns of contemporary public ethics and suggests a means to identify and prioritise public and common goods.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p.         ) and index.
Table of contents: title: The individual self and its critics; title: The individualist assumptions of bioethical frameworks; title: The genetic self is the connected self; title: The failures of individual ethics in the genetic era; title: The communal turn; title: Developing alternatives: benefit sharing; title: Developing alternatives: trust; title: The ethical toolbox part one: recognising goods and harms; title: The ethical toolbox part two: applying appropriate practices; title: Possible futures.