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Bioethics concerns the relationship between the medical professions and the cultures in which they operate. Sarah Ferber has developed an invaluable introduction to contemporary bioethics which incorporates historical and broader cultural approaches, appealing and relevant to students and practitioners alike.

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How influential has the Nazi analogy been in recent medical debates on euthanasia? Is the history of eugenics being revived in modern genetic technologies? And what does the tragic history of thalidomide and its recent reintroduction for new medical treatments tell us about how governments solve ethical dilemmas?

Bioethics in Historical Perspective shows how our understanding of medical history still plays a part in clinical medicine and medical research today. With clear and balanced explanations of complex issues, this extensively documented set of case studies in biomedical ethics explores the important role played by history in thinking about modern medical practice and policy.

This book provides student readers with up-to-date information about issues in bioethics, as well as a guide to the most influential ethical standpoints. New twists added to well-known stories will engage those more familiar with the challenging field of contemporary bioethics.

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Introduction.- 1. Bioethics as Scholarship.- 2. Language, Narrative and Rhetoric in Bioethics.- 3. Euthanasia, the Nazi Analogy and the ´Slippery Slope´.- 4. Heredity, Genes and Reproductive Politics.- 5. Human Experimentation.- 6. Thalidomide.- Conclusion.- Glossary.

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Sarah Ferber is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and Chair of the University of Wollongong and regional Human Research Ethics Committee (Health and Medical). She is author of Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France and editor, with Sally Wilde, of The Body Divided: Human Beings and Human ´Material´ in Modern Medical History. You can watch her interview about Bioethics in Historical Perspective here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxOZLfDHlSM

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