Synopses & Reviews
This volume captures a unique exchange between Paul Ramsey and his most prominent colleagues. In one sense it remains a Festschrift in his honor, characterized, at times, by a markedly informal tone. Yet, in the spirit of both the analytical rigor and the self-exposure that marked Ramsey's career, this volume is not simply a tribute to Ramsey's lifework but rather a vehicle for intense conversation and argument about issues of human birth, life, suffering, and death. The editors see it as a state of the art discussion that brings the best insights from Judeo-Christian thought into contact with wider and more public arenas of medical ethics. Of course, such a collection as this grants Ramsey the permission to have the last word. But this final word is entrusted to a mature and remarkably open mind, still sharpening its critical skills and risking exposure to new issues and voices.
Synopsis
The intense fervor of a Mississippi Methodist preacher, the meticulous reasoning of an Oxford logician, the dogged persistence of a head longshoreman, the unflagging humor of a Rabelaisian satirist. To have met Paul Ramsey at a lecture in a medical university; a heady conference at Hastings-on- Hudson; a congressional hearing; deliberations at a church assembly; or a bull session in some coffee shop was to be confronted with a gentleman of unforgettable energy, insight, and delight. In many roles--as a young instructor in religious studies at Princeton University, a concerned moral theologian commenting on the ethics of the "sit-ins" and nuclear issues, an observer and dialogue partner with physicians at Georgetown and other medical centers, a faithful editor and analyst of Jonathan Edwards' ethical writings, a trustee of the Hastings center, a voluminous correspondent with others who would join to disciplined pursuit of values--Paul Ramsey in all roles was indefatigable in zeal, rigorous in demand and gracious in coadventuring (to use one of his wonderful metaphors). This volume captures a unique exchange between Paul Ramsey and his most prominent colleagues. In one sense it remains a Festschrift in his honor, characterized, at times, by a markedly informal tone.
Table of Contents
Preface; K.R. Vaux. Introduction: The Theological, Medical and Philosophical Contexts of Paul Ramsey's Medical Ethics. Covenant-Centered Ethics: The Theological Context of Paul Ramsey's Medical Ethics; D.H. Smith. Paul Ramsey's Ethic of Covenant Fidelity; R.A. Carson. Discerning Stewardship: Contemporary Philosophy and the Legacy of Paul Ramsey's Medical Ethics; K.L. Vaux, M. Stenberg. Part I: Fundamental Issues. Keeping Body and Soul Together; O. O'Donovan. The Right to Life and Human Dignity; L.R. Kass. Applied Ethics and Communities of Value: The Distinctiveness of Medical Ethics; P.F. Camenisch. Response I; P. Ramsey. Part II: Theological Issues. In Partnership with God: Health, Healing, and Jewish Tradition; B.L. Sherwin. Technology and Tragedy: An Evangelical Theology of Care; A. Verhey. Response II; P. Ramsey. Part III: Medical Issues. The Devil's Being God's Best Inspiration: The Boundary between Research and Care; J.van Eys. Telling and Keeping Still: Reviving and Letting Go: The Ethics of "Do Not Resuscitate" Procedures; S. Schade. Ramsey as Trellis: Paul Ramsey and the Evolution of Pediatric Medical Ethics; W.G. Barthelome. Response III; P. Ramsey. Appendix: Should Physicians Hasten the Death Angel when She Pauses In Her Flight? Peter T. Bohan Lecture on the Philosophy of Medicine; P. Ramsey. An Interview with Paul Ramsey; P. Ramsey, K.L. Vaux.