If you wanted to recommend a book to undergraduates or seminarians studying Catholic bioethics for the first time, there are several books available The pontificate of John Paul II spanned the birth and development of bioethics as a serious academic endeavour, and a new generation of seminarians and students has also come along, actively supportive of the John Paul II project, and rather bemused by theologians who are not. Amongst the possible introductory textbooks for such a generation, the one that seems most acceptable is William May's Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life. It takes the most important magisterial documents available, comments on them, develops an understanding of human dignity, the human act, and natural law, and then applies that thinking to various issues in bioethics. The book does not contain the kind of proportionalist moral thought that was common some years ago.
What we have with Austriaco's book is a similar kind of approach to May's. It starts by placing the bioethics within the framework of the moral life, which is about the pursuit of beatitude, the happy life, through following Christ. In less than 40 pages, he then sketches out the nature of human inclinations, the anatomy of the human act, the virtues, conscience and the principle of double effect, and so on, as a way of equipping the reader for the chapters dealing with specific issues. Throughout the book, Austriaco always reveals his sources, and frequently directs the readers towards authors who hold a different opinion to his own. It very quickly becomes clear, for example, that he disagrees with certain aspects of the thought of May, Finnis and Grisez, with whom he shares a high regard for the teaching of the magisterium. An example is the ‘fact-value distinction’; May et al do not think that the human good can be known from facts about human nature because ‘is’ to ‘ought’ is a logical mistake. However, Austriaco claims that if we accept Aquinas's anthropology, as he does throughout the book, then ‘ought’ statements are statements of fact rather than value (p. 29). Similarly he disagrees with May about the place of the virtue of prudence in bioethical reasoning (p. 41).
The book then treats bioethical topics in a systematic way, from the beginning of life and procreation right through to the end of life, with a final chapter treating the status of Catholic bioethics in a postmodern, liberal and secular society. Austriaco always demonstrates a sound and up-to-date knowledge of the biology behind the issues. Many bioethicists are prone to making rookie mistakes when presenting scientific matters in their writings because they do not have the necessary background critically to assess primary and secondary biological literature. Austriaco does not make such mistakes in this book. He has a doctorate from MIT, and as well as writing extensively on bioethics, has an active research career in molecular microbiology; all the while maintaining his life as a Dominican priest and friar. The biology in the book is accessible, avoiding unnecessary technical terminology wherever possible. At the end of each chapter, there is a section which highlights the role of virtue in the particular issue. This is an interesting and somewhat novel feature; sometimes it works well, but with some chapters it is less convincing. However, I am sure that if Austriaco penned a more in-depth book on virtue in bioethics aimed at an advanced readership, it would be a welcome addition to the Catholic bioethical canon.
The chapter on organ donation and transplantation is very thorough in its treatment, and up-to-date. It considers the history of transplants, gives an ethical framework for transplantation, which includes the rejection of the idea of presumed consent. It is then almost exhaustive in its consideration of the various ethical issues with transplants – from trafficking and sale of organs through to the ethics of transplants where the donor is ‘brain dead’. It contains a brief but well written analysis of the problem of defining death; a further occasion to disagree with May. He rejects May's suggestion that the capacity for sentience can be used to gauge the presence or absence of life, instead arguing that the loss of bodily integrity is the only robust indicator of death (p. 199).
The chapter entitled ‘Research Ethics from the Bench to the Bedside’ is also very good. It starts with an examination of the vocation of the scientist, going on to examine biomedical research and clinical trials, issues of informed consent, the use of placebos, experiments on humans at various stages of life. It also briefly treats the emerging issues in neuroscience and neuroethics, and the ethics of plant and animal experimentation and genetic engineering. Whilst some aspects of this chapter might have been included in other chapters of the book, having a clearly marked chapter on the ethics of research is a good idea. And as the biology is as up to date as can be reasonably expected, it looks at some of the important questions which will come to the fore in the next few years, along with other areas that often receive less attention within Catholic bioethics.
This is a good introductory book; much better than any of the other available books which are intended as introductions to Catholic bioethics. It is better written and organised than May's, and is more up to date. It is comprehensive, accessible, and will no doubt act as a catalyst for further interest in the subject amongst students. However, its main weakness is that it has a pious tone running throughout. I fear this may well be off-putting, especially to sceptics both inside and outside the Church. I think this is a shame, because a slightly different tone would have given the book much wider appeal, and would in no way have diluted the sense of passion for the Church's teaching which Austriaco clearly has.
