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Beneficence and Health Care

  • Book
  • © 1982

Overview

Editors:
  1. Earl E. Shelp

    1. Institute of Religion, Houston, USA
      Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

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Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine (PHME, volume 11)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
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  2. Historical and Conceptual Background

    1. Front Matter

      Pages ins1-ins1
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    2. Philanthropy in Medicine: Some Historical Perspectives

      • Darrel W. Amundsen, Gary B. Ferngren
      Pages 1-31

    3. Philosophical Foundations of Beneficence

      • Allen E. Buchanan
      Pages 33-62

    4. Beneficence in an Ethics of Virtue

      • William K. Frankena
      Pages 63-81

    5. Beneficence, Supererogation, and Role Duty

      • John P. Reeder Jr.
      Pages 83-108

  3. Beneficence in Religious Ethics

    1. Front Matter

      Pages ins3-ins3
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    2. Jewish Ethics and Beneficence

      • Ronald M. Green
      Pages 109-125

    3. Roman Catholic Ethics and Beneficence

      • William E. May
      Pages 127-151

    4. Protestant Ethics and Beneficence

      • Harmon L. Smith
      Pages 153-182

  4. Beneficence in Health Care

    1. Front Matter

      Pages ins5-ins5
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    2. Scope of Beneficence in Health Care

      • Natalie Abrams
      Pages 183-198

    3. To Benefit and Respect Persons: A Challenge for Beneficence in Health Care

      • Earl E. Shelp
      Pages 199-222

    4. Beneficence and Health Policy: Reduction of Risk-Taking

      • James F. Childress
      Pages 223-238

    5. Altruism in Health Care

      • Ronald M. Green
      Pages 239-254

    6. Epilogue

      • Earl E. Shelp
      Pages 255-256

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 257-264
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Keywords

About this book

The meaning and application of the principle of beneficence to issues in health care is rarely clear or certain. Although the principle is frequently employed to justify a variety of actions and inactions, very little has been done from a conceptual point of view to test its relevance to these behaviors or to explore its relationship to other moral principles that also might be called upon to guide or justify conduct. Perhaps more than any other, the principle of benef­ icence seems particularly appropriate to contexts of health care in which two or more parties interact from positions of relative strength and weakness, advantage and need, to pursue some perceived goal. It is among those moral principles that Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress selected in their textbook on bioethics as applicable to biomedicine in general and relevant to a range of specific issues ([1], pp. 135-167). More narrowly, The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behav­ ioral Research identified beneficence as among those moral principles that have particular relevance to the conduct of research involving humans (2). Thus, the principle of beneficence is seen as pertinent to the routine delivery of health care, the discovery of new therapies, and the rationale of public policies related to health care.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Institute of Religion, Houston, USA

    Earl E. Shelp

  • Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

    Earl E. Shelp

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Beneficence and Health Care

  • Editors: Earl E. Shelp

  • Series Title: Philosophy and Medicine

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7769-3

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland 1982

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-90-277-1377-3Published: 31 May 1982

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-009-7771-6Published: 13 October 2011

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-009-7769-3Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0376-7418

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-0080

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 266

  • Topics: Philosophy of Medicine, Theory of Medicine/Bioethics

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