The Edge of Life: Human Dignity and Contemporary Bioethics treats a
number of distinct moral questions and ?nds their answer in the dignity
of the person, both as an agent and as a patient (in the sense of the
recipient of action). Characteristically one's view of the human being
ultimately shapes one's outlook on these matters. This book addresses
questions that divide a culture of life from a culture of death as well
as a number of questions debated within the Catholic tradition itself.
The Edge of Life offers a critique of the new bio-ethic, represented by
such notable authors as Peter Singer; it also attempts to shore up some
of the dif?culties leveled by critics against the traditional ethic as
well as to answer some questions disputed by those within the tradition.
This book does not treat the basic principles of morality but rather
many of their applications and suppositions. (For an account of
contemporary debates within the Catholic tradition on these matters, see
Kaczor 2002). Rather, The Edge of Life seeks to address a number of
disputed contemporary questions touching upon human dignity at what has
been called "the margins of life. " The ?rst section of the book treats
the dignity of the human person as recipient of action and as agent.
Chapter two examines various accounts of when a human being becomes a
person.