Killing And Letting Die Book

BLEGH

it's not AWFUL... but it's kinda... unnecessary

Basically this whole book is written for the purpose of introducing "The Ethical Grid". It's basically a bunch of things to consider when you encounter an ethically tense situation in a healthcare situation. They are important and good things to consider, e.g. "create autonomy", "the law", "serve needs", etc, and it's not a bad tool. But a whole BOOK about this? An article, sure. But a book???

The first half of the book talks about deontology and utilitarianism and blah blah. The more interesting parts are that 1) health work is moral work; 2) healthcare is about promoting human potential (not just addressing a deficiency); 3) autonomy (of the patient/client) is a quality - your job as a healthcare worker is to create increased autonomy up till the point respecting her autonomy becomes meaningful (i.e. the "Autonomy Flip"). He also emphasises the importance of *actual* ethical work - what can healthcare workers do in practice, not just in theory. That's where the value of this work comes in - some of the tools are good ways of considering ethically precarious scenarios; they give you a place to start and frame all of your thoughts and to deliberate through.

Maybe this was groundbreaking when it came out or something. Some of the case studies were interesting. The tone of the book is quite pompous, in my opinion - unpleasant to read. I would recommend the later chapters but not the earlier ones, especially if you have even a rudimentary background in ethics.

I didn't finish the book though because a) I didn't really like it; b) I only read this for class and luckily we didn't have to read the whole book!!

also, don't read the Introduction if you know what's good for you.