Jewish Bioethics
This book presents the discourse in Jewish law and rabbinic literature on bioethical issues, highlighting practical problems in their socio-historical contexts. Yechiel Michael Barilan discusses end-of-life care, abortion, infertility treatments, the brain death debate, and the organ market. Barilan also presents the theology and spirituality of Jewish medical law, the communal responsibility for healthcare, and the charitable sick-care societies that flourished in the Jewish communities until the beginning of the twentieth century.
- The first book to offer a comprehensive coverage of the rabbinic literature on major bioethical topics
- Explains bioethics from the reasoning of rabbis as well as critical evaluation of the development of Jewish law from historical, sociological and ethical perspectives
- Discusses up-to-date discourses and actual regulations of issues such as brain death and infertility treatments
Reviews & endorsements
“Jewish Bioethics brings rabbinic discourse, including many sources that are available only in Hebrew, to the attention of English-speaking Western readers. Dr. Barilan clearly illustrates the relevance of rabbinic thinking to contemporary bioethical concerns. This book, which reflects Dr. Barilan’s personal experience as a physician, his academic expertise in bioethics, and his deep understanding of rabbinic literature, will be a unique and valuable contribution to the literature on Jewish bioethics.”
– Robert Perlman, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago
Product details
December 2013Hardback
9781107024663
294 pages
237 × 160 × 20 mm
0.54kg
2 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. An outline of 'Jewish bioethics'
- 3. Health and healthcare
- 4. Doctor-patient relationship
- 5. The human body
- 6. Fertility and very early prenatal life
- 7. Childbirth and abortion
- 8. Care for premature neonates
- 9. Organ transplantation and the brain death debate
- 10. Terminal care.