`I have little but praise for this study. The crisp insights of the conclusion are symptomatic of its lucidity and sophistication.' British Journal of Aesthetics.

This collection examines prevalent assumptions in moral reasoning which are often accepted uncritically in medical ethics. It introduces a range of perspectives from philosophy and medicine on the nature of moral reasoning and relates these to illustrative problems, such as New Reproductive Technologies, the treatment of sick children, the assessment of quality of life, genetics, involuntary psychiatric treatment and abortion. In each case, the contributors address the nature and worth of the moral theories involved in discussions of the relevant issues, (...) and focus on the types of reasoning which are employed. 'Medical ethics is in danger of becoming a subject kept afloat by a series of platitudes about respect for persons or the importance of autonomy. This book is a bold and imaginative attempt to break away from such rhetoric into genuine informative dialogue between philosophers and doctors, with no search after consensus.' Mary Warnock. (shrink)

This article speaks in praise of the dignity of creatures. Arguing for a foundation of the nascent doctrine of creatio ex nihilo in the Psalms and inter‐testamental scriptures, Soskice points to the distinctiveness of the Jewish and Christian understanding of the Creator God, and its revolutionary entrance into the bloodstream of western metaphysics. She argues for a qualification on the over‐emphasis, when speaking of the historical origins of the doctrine, on the creation of matter. Wider principles of divine freedom and (...) transcendence are at work as can be seen in the writings of Philo of Alexandria. The conviction that God is Being itself and the source of all being is the legacy not of ‘Greek philosophy’ simpliciter, as is often invoked by way of curt dismissal, but the product of Jewish and Christian middle‐platonic readings of the Book of Exodus. It is this elaboration of creatio ex nihilo which underscores the Christian theology of participation in which creatures are not diminished but made gloriously and truly themselves. (shrink)

The respondent agrees with Michael Reiss's general diagnosis of the rudderless state of ethics in our modern society, but not with all of his account of its causes or possible solutions. Scripture has always been limited in terms of direct moral commands, and secular ethics has, since Aristotle at least, been influential in directing Christian understanding of the “good life.” Ethics must be based in biology, but evolutionary biology can tell us more readily what is, than guide us into “what (...) ought” to be. Christian teaching classically emphasized moral formation, grounded in the understanding that we are creatures of a good Creator. We have our being as gift, and human life flourishes when oriented to the Good. (shrink)