Body-Self Dualism in Contemporary Ethics and Politics [Paperback]

This book questions what a human person is and examines the ethical and political controversies of issues such as abortion and hedonism.Profoundly important ethical and political controversies turn on the question of whether biological life is an essential aspect of a human person, or only an extrinsic instrument. Lee and George argue that human beings are physical, animal organisms - albeit essentially rational and free - and examine the implications of this understanding of human beings for some of the most controversial issues in contemporary ethics and politics.Profoundly important ethical and political controversies turn on the question of whether biological life is an essential aspect of a human person, or only an extrinsic instrument. Lee and George argue that human beings are physical, animal organisms - albeit essentially rational and free - and examine the implications of this understanding of human beings for some of the most controversial issues in contemporary ethics and politics.This book treats the question of what a human person is and the ethical and political controversies of abortion, hedonism and drug-taking, euthanasia, and sex ethics. It defends the position that human beings are both body and soul, with a fundamental and morally important difference from other animals. It defends the traditional position on the most controversial specific moral and political issues of the day.Introduction; 1. Human beings are animals; 2. Human beings are persons; 3. Hedonism and hedonistic drug-taking; 4. Abortion; 5. Euthanasia; 6. Sex and the body. Robert P. George... is this countrys most influential conservative Christian thinker.
-David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times This new book by Lee and George promises to be a book of singular importance and standinga book whose arguments would have to be addressed by anyone seriously entering the discussions in this field. Lee and George address the most contentious issues in our politics-- euthanasl1