Bioethics and medical issues in literature

A timely investigation of the interplay between literature and medical ethics Tremendous advances in science and technology have made bioethical and medical issues central to contemporary philosophical debates.

Yet many of these modern concerns have been anticipated and addressed to varying degrees in numerous literary works.

Designed to meet the needs of school students and teachers, pre-med and other college students, as well as anyone in or entering a health care profession, this reference work discusses literature as a means of approaching medical and bioethical issues.

Chapters look at such broad topics as technology's creature, illness and culture, and end of life issues, with each chapter offering a close examination of two major literary works.

Included are discussions of such critical issues as: Cloning; Bioterrorism; Organ Transplants; Genetics; AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Obesity and Heart Disease; Civil Rights. Literary works covered include: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World; Robin Cook's Coma; Albert Camus' The Plague; David Feldshuh's Miss Evers' Boys; Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest; Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy; John Updike's Rabbit at Rest; and Margaret Edson's Wit.

Special features include a chronology of events in literature, medicine, and science; a glossary of literary, medical, and scientific terms; and lists of movies, internet sites, books and journals, and teaching methods.

Part of the Exploring Social Issues through Literature series Offers timely consideration of social and ethical issues Provides materials for interdisciplinary study of literary works Explores such canonical texts as Brave New World and Frankenstein as well as contemporary novels