DeGrazia David. Human Identity and Bioethics

Cambridge University Press, 2005. - 314 p.When philosophers address personal identity, they usually explore numerical identity: What are the criteria for a person’s continuing existence? When nonphilosophers address personal identity, they often have in mind narrative identity: Which characteristics of a particular person are especially salient to her self-conception? This book develops accounts of both senses of identity, arguing that both are normatively important, and is unique in its exploration of a wide range of issues in bioethics through the lens of identity. Defending a biological view of our numerical identity and a framework for understanding narrative identity, David DeGrazia investigates various issues for which considerations of identity prove critical: the definition of death; the authority of advance directives in cases of severe dementia; the use of enhancement technologies; prenatal genetic interventions; and certain types of reproductive choices. Human Identity and Bioethics demonstrates the power of personal identity theory to illuminate issues in bioethics as they bring philosophical theory to life.
David DeGrazia is Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University.He is the author of Taking Animals Seriously: Mental Life and Moral Status and Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction and coeditor, with Thomas Mappes, of Biomedical Ethics in its fourth, fifth, and sixth editions.