Ethical issues relating to the withdrawal of dialysis are discussed, comparing dialysis with other life-support systems, particularly artificial ventilation. It is argued that there is no ethical difference between discontinuing treatment in each case. One practical difference between the two is that patients with chronic renal failure are less likely to have reduced autonomy, and so can engage in discussions with their doctors regarding the situations in which their life-supporting treatment might be discontinued. It is argued that doctors caring for (...) patients on dialysis have an ethical duty to discuss with these patients the circumstances in which they may wish to discontinue dialysis. (shrink)

John Howard Whitehouse was a British educationalist, social reformer and the founder of Bembridge School on the Isle of Wight. In this book, which was first published in 1928, Whitehouse provides a concise account of life at Bembridge and the methods employed by the school. A vision is put forward in which, without compromising more conventionally academic areas, arts and crafts are presented as being central to the process of 'spiritual and intellectual education'. Numerous illustrative figures are also included, (...) revealing aspects of life at the school and works created by the students. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the ideas of Whitehouse and the history of education. (shrink)

John Howard Whitehouse was a British educational and social reformer and the founder of Bembridge School on the Isle of Wight. George Peabody Gooch was a British historian and Liberal Party politician. Originally published in 1924, this book contains essays by Whitehouse and Gooch putting forward the case for an international perspective on education and educational policy, with particular emphasis placed upon links with the United States. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in educational (...) theories and the history of education. (shrink)

The agent-structure problem is a much discussed issue in the field of international relations. In his comprehensive analysis of this problem, Colin Wight deconstructs the accounts of structure and agency embedded within differing IR theories and, on the basis of this analysis, explores the implications of ontology - the metaphysical study of existence and reality. Wight argues that there are many gaps in IR theory that can only be understood by focusing on the ontological differences that construct the (...) theoretical landscape. By integrating the treatment of the agent-structure problem in IR theory with that in social theory, Wight makes a positive contribution to the problem as an issue of concern to the wider human sciences. At the most fundamental level politics is concerned with competing visions of how the world is and how it should be, thus politics is ontology. (shrink)