From Dawn till Dusk

Bioethical Insights into the Beginning and the End of Life

Evangelos D. Protopapadakis

ISBN 978-3-8325-4990-9
252 pages, year of publication: 2019
price: 29.00 €

Content: From Dawn till Dusk embraces the conceptual challenges often associated with Bioethics by taking the reader on a journey that embodies the circle of life and what it means to be human. The beginning and the end of life have always been an impossible riddle to humans. Bioethics does not aspire to unveil utter truths regarding the purpose of our existence; on the contrary, its task is to settle controversial issues that arise within this finite, very fragile and vulnerable life, yet a life we still have to live. This book discusses thorny ethical issues that transcend time and are related to the dawn and the dusk of life: abortion and infanticide, genetic engineering, human reproductive cloning, the fear of death, rational suicide, and the right to die. The book's highest aspiration, though, is to both provide the reader with an opportunity to see the world from different perspectives and to showcase the irresistible charms of bioethical debates.

``This book brings contemporary issues in bioethics into conversation with different philosophical views, both ancient and modern. The result is a rewarding and very readable discussion on a range of important questions about life and death.''
Peter Singer, Princeton University & University of Melbourne

``Evangelos D. Protopapadakis' book is a philosophically rich discussion of major topics in bioethics about issues of life and death. The work is original and important. I believe the author is correct to argue that the central issues of bioethics at its core in these areas should be understood as moral in nature and should not be framed as principally legal or scientific.''
Tom L. Beauchamp, Georgetown University

``Bioethics is - in philosophical terms - a new field. But it builds on centuries of thought on the human condition, the meaning of life, and the fundamental ethical question: What should we do? Evangelos D. Protopapadakis’ masterful volume traces modern bioethical debates, with all their increasing scientific complexity, back through ancient and modern philosophical thought. The result is a sparkling and engaging journey through the history of ideas and the current ethical challenges at the beginning and end of life.''
Julian Savulescu, Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford

``As the Head of the Greek Unit of the Chair, but also as an ethicist and a bioethicist, Professor Protopapadakis has never been weary to contribute to philosophically nuanced bioethical debates. This inspiring book is the manifestation of his attitude towards Bioethics.''
Amnon Carmi, Holder of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics (Haifa)

``This book presents important connections between current positions and classical approaches in ethics, written in a lively way.''
Hans-Werner Ingensiep, Universität Duisburg-Essen

``Evangelos Protopapadakis' book provides nuanced insights describing the complex ethical problems which clinicians and society must address. This creative analysis incorporates ancient and contemporary historical examples to illuminate the disparate arguments used to justify conflicting philosophical responses.''
Susan M. Miller MD, MPH