On being human : : where medicine, ethics and spirituality converge / / Daisaku Ikeda, Rene Simard, Guy Bourgeault.

• VerfasserIn: Ikeda, Daisaku,; Bourgeault, Guy,; Simard, René,
• TeilnehmendeR: Bourgeault, Guy,; Simard, René,
• Place / Publishing House: Montreal, [Quebec Province] : : Les Presses de l'Universite de Montreal,, 2002.; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2002
• Language: French; English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (262 p.)
• Notes: Translation of: Kenko to jinsei.

At first glance, Western humanism, Japanese Buddhism and modern science have so little in common that the very idea of seeking common ground through dialogue seems overly idealistic. Only a man the calibre of Daisaku Ikeda could bring such a project to fruition. Firmly setting aside cliché and facile answers, he broaches the grand questions that face today's society: cancer, AIDS, death with dignity, in vitro fertilization, biomedical ethics… The responses offered by René Simard, molecular biologist and geneticist, and Guy Bourgeault, bioethicist, are insightful and compelling. Their discussions cut through linguistic and cultural barriers to present a vision of the potential – an the inherent challenges – of being human.

Table of Contents

Foreword -- Introduction -- CHAPTER ONE: CANCER AND AIDS -- 1. Cancer Past and Present -- 2. Prevention and Treatment -- 3. Cancer and Disclosure: The Doctor-Patient Bond -- 4. AIDS Menace and Countermeasures -- 5. AIDS and Human Rights -- 6. Cloning and the Value of Life -- CHAPTER TWO: HEALTH AND HARMONY -- 1. The Nature of Health -- 2. Health and Illness -- 3. Harmony with the Environment -- 4. Obsession with Perpetual Youth -- 5. Overcoming Stress -- 6. Coping with Mental Illness -- 7. The Ideal Life -- CHAPTER THREE: BIOETHICS -- 1. Religion and Medical Ethics -- 2. Definition of Death -- 3. Brain Death -- 4. Death with Dignity: Overcoming the Suffering of Death -- 5. Confronting Death -- 6. Birth -- 7. Procreation Technology -- CHAPTER FOUR: EVOLUTION OF LIFE AND BIRTH OF HUMANITY -- 1. Origin of Life -- 2. Theories of Biological Evolution -- 3. Birth of Humankind -- 4. Diverse Views -- CHAPTER FIVE: DAWN OF THE CENTURY OF LIFE -- 1. Pathology of our Time -- 2. Goals of Education -- 3. Mission of the University -- 4. Ethical Aspects of Technoscientific Development -- 5. Century of Life -- Postscript.