One of the top ten books of the year Wall Street Journal
A leading expert in public bioethics argues for a new conception of human identity in American law and politics. The natural limitations of the human body make us vulnerable and thus dependent for life on others. Yet American law and policy ignore these facts, in laws and court rulings that assume that people are autonomous, defined by their ability to choose. As legal scholar O. Carter Snead points out, this individualist ideology captures important truths about human freedom, but it also means that we have no obligations to ourselves unless we actively, voluntarily accept them. In such circumstances, those most in need must rely on charity. When it is not prepared, law and politics cannot respond adequately. This book argues for a new paradigm that better reflects the gifts and challenges of being human. Inspired by the insights of Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor, Snead proposes a vision of human identity and flourishing that supports the profoundly vulnerable and dependent - children, the disabled and the elderly. To show how such a vision would affect law and policy, he addresses three complex issues of bioethics: abortion, assisted reproductive technology and end-of-life decisions. Avoiding the usual dichotomies of conservative versus liberal and secular versus religious, Snead reframes the debates on these issues and places them within his framework. He concludes that if the law is built on a rationale that reflects the fully lived reality of life, it will provide support for the vulnerable, including the unborn, mothers, families and those approaching the end of life. In this way, he argues, policy can provide people with the care they need to thrive. In this provocative and consequential book, Snead rethinks how the law represents the human experience so that it can govern more wisely, justly and humanely.
Reviews
"Illuminates the ways in which our misguided anthropology - our misguided views of what it means to be human - negatively impacts our bioethics...The lengthy chapter on abortion alone is worth the price of admission." - Alexandra DeSanctis , National Review
"This remarkable and insightful discussion of contemporary public bioethics and its individual assumptions is essential reading for anyone with bioethical concerns. Whether you agree with Snead's perspective or not, everyone will be grateful to him for this critical work ". - Alasdair MacIntyre, author of After Virtue
"O. Carter Snead has written a remarkably insightful book about how American law has come to regard individual autonomy as the highest moral good. He suggests an alternative basis for modern bioethics, based on an understanding of humans as social beings embedded in interdependent physical bodies. Very thought-provoking ". - Francis Fukuyama, author of Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment