On 5-6 February 2010, the International Scientific Conference on Bioethics in Medical Practice was held at the Medical University of Lublin. The conference brought together representatives of many disciplines, thus reflecting the nature of bioethics itself - a discipline on the borderline of many sciences. We hosted philosophers, ethicists, theologians, lawyers, sociologists, doctors, nurses and midwives. The result of the discussions held during the conference is the present book. The subject matter of the book is divided into two parts. In the first, one can find the conceptual framework, which includes reflections on the possible references of bioethics as an interdisciplinary field. The second part of the book presents the more practical dimension of bioethics in medicine. It is predominantly concerned with ethical issues concerning the beginning of human life, but also with the problem of elective abortion, the issue of patients' rights or, finally, the issue of transplantation. It is hoped that this publication will be of interest to the reader and that it will provide a basis for a lively discussion on the issues it raises. It is to be hoped that similar initiatives will be more frequent and that more bioethical publications will appear on the Polish market, in which not only the representatives of the humanities, but also the representatives of the medical environment, representing various world views, would express their opinions; then, perhaps, the awareness of the discussed issues and, consequently, the level of debates concerning bioethical issues will increase in this environment.
Beata Dobrowolska, Anna Pilewska-Kozak, Irena Wrońska