Special Guest: Carter Snead.

Links:

• What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics — The natural limits of the human body make us vulnerable and therefore dependent, throughout our lives, on others. Yet American law and policy disregard these stubborn facts, with statutes and judicial decisions that presume people to be autonomous, defined by their capacity to choose. As legal scholar O. Carter Snead points out, this individualistic ideology captures important truths about human freedom, but it also means that we have no obligations to each other unless we actively, voluntarily embrace them. Under such circumstances, the neediest must rely on charitable care. When it is not forthcoming, law and policy cannot adequately respond. In this provocative and consequential book, Snead rethinks how the law represents human experiences so that it might govern more wisely, justly, and humanely.
• ‘What It Means to Be Human’ Review: Unchosen Obligations (by Yuval Levin) — "A critical examination of the moral suppositions underlying contemporary bioethics might shed light on much more of our common life than our engagement with biology and medicine. Such an ambitious examination has now been taken up by O. Carter Snead in 'What It Means to Be Human.' The result is a rare achievement: a rigorous academic book that is also accessible, engaging and wise."
• Answering the Psalmist (Review by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput) — "Today we have the ability, or soon will, to rewire ourselves at the biological level; to “improve,” in the sunny language of science boosterism, what it means to be human from the inside out. Genetic catastrophe is not (yet) in our vocabulary. And what harm can a little merging of humans and machines do? Like the sorcerer’s apprentice, we’re long on knowledge and ambition, but short on wisdom. This is what makes a new book by O. Carter Snead both timely and so important."
• Video: Faculty Seminar on Public Bioethics — O. Carter Snead, Notre Dame Law School professor, director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, and author of the new book "What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics," presents the thesis of his book in a seminar and Q&A session for the dCEC's Sorin Fellows Program.
• Theme Song: "I Dunno" by Grapes — I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

In addition to clinical psychiatry, Dr. Komrad is a medical ethicist. He chaired the Ethics Committee and ethics consultation service for the Sheppard Pratt Health System in Maryland for over 25 years. He served on the Ethics Committee of the American Psychiatric Association for 6 years, which oversees ethics and professionalism for psychiatry in the U.S. Recently he has been speaking throughout the U.S. and internationally, also consulting to government policy makers, expressing ethical concerns related to physician assisted suicide and euthanasia, especially concern that these procedures are available to people with mental illness in some countries. He speaks widely about why legalizing these procedures is neither good social policy nor good medical ethics.

Special Guest: Mark Komrad, MD.

Links:

• Dr. Mark Komrad, MD homepage
• Video: Physician-Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia for Non-Terminal Patients with Mental Disorders: An Emerging Ethical Crisis — Talk delivered at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN
• You Need Help: A Step-by-Step Guide to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling — Just about everyone knows a relative, friend, or coworker who is exhibiting signs of emotional or behavioral turmoil. Yet figuring out how to reach out to that person can feel insurmountable. We know it is the right thing to do, yet many of us hesitate to take action out of fear of conflict, hurt feelings, or damaging the relationship. Through a rich combination of user-friendly tools and real-life stories, Mark S. Komrad, MD, offers step-by-step guidance and support as you take the courageous step of helping a friend who might not even recognize that he or she is in need. He guides you in developing a strong course of action, starting by determining when professional help is needed, then moves you through the steps of picking the right time, making the first approach, gathering allies, selecting the right professional, and supporting friends or relatives as they go through the necessary therapeutic process to resolve their problems.
• Theme Song: "I Dunno" by grapes — I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque