Book Review: Bioethics for informed citizens across cultures
Abstract
Macer DRJ ed. 2004: Bioethics for informed citizens across cultures. Christchurch NZ: Eubios Ethics Institute. 160 pp. USD20; EUR15; GBP10; NZD30; AUD33; JPY2000 (inside Japan) (A4 PB). ISBN 0 908897 20 0. This is one of those books that at first sight looks unpromising but, on turning the pages, one gets hooked. Darryl Macer, the Director of the Eubios Ethics Institute, manages to produce countless books and other teaching material through Eubios, most of which are free and also downloadable. This A4 volume is aimed at teachers and students to enable them `to learn about bioethics, and to think more widely about life'. It is concerned at the same time with cultural understanding and all examples vary widely in this respect. The book is full of boxes containing significant text, enhanced by computergenerated icons and occasional photographs. Above and below portions of text there are questions to stimulate teaching and learning. The first box is about autonomy. This concept is described in about 150 words, hence the sense that it may be more suitable for teaching teenagers. However, only a few pages later, there is a significant passage about genetic testing for ovarian and breast cancer. This is