This book is an assault on the notion that it is empirically accurate and legally and philosophically satisfactory to see humans as atomistic entities. It contends that our welfare is inextricably entangled with that of others, and accordingly law and ethics, in determining our best interests, should recognise the central importance of relationality, the performance of obligations, and (even apparently injurious) altruism.

Provocative and controversial questioning of the established way of looking at welfare/best interests Obvious practical relevance to family and medical lawyers, and of interest to professional philosophers, those interested in the history of ideas, and general readers Accessibly and engagingly written, with swashbuckling contempt for technical jargon Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Andrew McGee is Associate Professor in law at Queensland University of Technology. He holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Essex. Before joining QUT, he completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in philosophy at University College Dublin. His main research interests are in the realm of bioethics. He has published widely on ethical issues in leading peer reviewed philosophy and ethics journals including Metaphilosophy, Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, and the Journal of Medical Ethics. Charles Foster is a Fellow of Exeter College, University of Oxford, a Senior Research Associate at the Uehiro Institute of Practical Ethics within the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and a Visiting Professor at the Oxford University Law Faculty.He too has published widely in leading philosophy and law journals. Previous books include, amongst many others, Being a Human (Profile and Henry Holt, 2021), The Law asa Moral Agent: Making people good (Springer, 2021, with Jonathan Herring), Human Thriving and the Law (Springer, 2018, with Jonathan Herring), Identity, Personhood and the Law (Springer, 2017, with Jonathan Herring), Being a Beast (Profile and Henry Holt, 2016), Altruism, Welfare and the Law (Springer, 2015, with Jonathan Herring), Human dignity in bioethics and law (Hart, 2012), Choosing Life, Choosing Death: The tyranny of autonomy in medical law and ethics (Hart, 2009), and The Selfless Gene (Hodder, 2008).

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Altruism and Community: A Biological and Philosophical History.- 3. Rethinking the Welfare and Best Interest Principles.- 4. What Do the Courts Do?.- 5. Putting it Into Practice.