Routledge Human Emotions and the Origins of Bioethics

This book provides a unique phenomenological dialogue between psychology and philosophy on the origin of bioethics that shows the importance of bringing emotions into bioethical discourse. Divided into two parts, the book begins by defining bioethics and explaining the importance of emotions in making us human, allowing us to consider life holistically. Ferrarello argues that emotions and bioethics are better served when they are combined, and that dismissing emotions as nothing more than a nuisance to our rationality has created a society that does not fit our human nature. Chapters explore how ethics relate to intimate life and how ethical agents determine themselves within their surrounding world, uniquely and interrogatively using ‘bioethics’ to consider not only medical dilemmas but also issues concerning environmental and individual well-being. By addressing personal, interpersonal, and societal problems as dynamically interconnected in bioethical problems she helps us to renew our sense of responsibility toward a good quality of life.  This interdisciplinary book is invaluable reading for students of health science, psychology, and philosophy, as well as for those interested in the link between emotions and bioethical discourse from both a psychological and philosophical perspective. Review "With this bold and path-breaking work Susi Ferrarello offers a new way to understand the subject of bioethics. She does so by going back to one of the founders of the field, Van Rensselaer Potter, and by aligning herself to the phenomenological tradition, developing a philosophy and ethics of life itself. By highlighting the role played by emotions in bioethics the book brings new light to such diverse matters as physician burnout, AI in health care, gene editing, and chronic pain management." - Fredrik Svenaeus, Professor of Philosophy at Södertörn University, Sweden About the Author Susi Ferrarello is assistant professor at California State University, East Bay, USA. She has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris, and an MA in Human Rights and Political Science from the University of Bologna. She is the author Phenomenology of Sex, Love, and Intimacy (Routledge, 2019), and is also a philosophical counselor.