David Novak holds the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies as professor of the study of religion and professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. In 2006 he was appointed as a member of the Canada Assisted Reproduction Agency.

Novak's voice deserves to be heard. This meticulously researched book reveals that there are multiple ways of examining the thorny bioethical issues of modern time. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Readers who appreciate erudite arguments and rigorous scholarship will be interested in this book. The Catholic Register The scope of the book is breathtaking and thought-provoking ... Novak offers refreshingly complex assessments of the interface among biology, society, and morality. Furthermore, the book's explicitly metaphysical orientation is suggestive. The Sanctity of Human Life engages multiple methods and powerful convictions about human life's emergence, its endurance, and its dissolution. From beginning to end, this is no small feat. American Journal of Bioethics [The] strength of this work is that it is written from the point of view of a Jewish theologian who is also a trained philosopher in the natural law tradition ... [The] emphasis on drawing from philosophy, theology, and political theory is commendable indeed. Novak honestly and forthrightly speaks of how his theology informs his ethics. Christian Apologetics Journal

• Preface 1. On the Use of Embryonic Stem CellsNormative Questions and Normative ContextsPhilosophy, Politics, and Theology and Their InterrelationsThe Status of the Embryo in Current Jewish DiscussionNatural Law in JudaismThree Rabbinic Texts Pertaining to AbortionThe Embryo before and after the Fortieth Day of GestationLaw and Scientific EvidenceThe Beginning of Human LifePermission or Obligation?Political RealitiesNotes 2. A Jewish Argument for Socialized MedicineUniversal Health Care: Canada and the United StatesMoral and Theological Problems with the Practice of MedicineMedicine as a Sacred ProfessionMedicine as a CallingNonsectarian MedicineNotes 3. Physician-Assisted SuicideTheology, Philosophy, and PoliticsWho is Guilty in Physician-Assisted Suicide?The Physician Kills the PatientThe Physician Orders the Patient KilledThe Physician Orders the Patient to Commit SuicideThe Physician Prepares the Patient for SuicideSuicide as a Reflexive ActSuicide and Personal ResponsibilityPublic Philosophy in a Secular SocietySuicide: Public and PrivateSociety's Claims on the Individual PersonStruggling against the Politics of DeathNotes Bibliography Index

David Novak holds the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies as professor of the study of religion and professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. In 2006 he was appointed as a member of the Canada Assisted Reproduction Agency.

Novak's voice deserves to be heard. This meticulously researched book reveals that there are multiple ways of examining the thorny bioethical issues of modern time. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Readers who appreciate erudite arguments and rigorous scholarship will be interested in this book. The Catholic Register The scope of the book is breathtaking and thought-provoking ... Novak offers refreshingly complex assessments of the interface among biology, society, and morality. Furthermore, the book's explicitly metaphysical orientation is suggestive. The Sanctity of Human Life engages multiple methods and powerful convictions about human life's emergence, its endurance, and its dissolution. From beginning to end, this is no small feat. American Journal of Bioethics [The] strength of this work is that it is written from the point of view of a Jewish theologian who is also a trained philosopher in the natural law tradition ... [The] emphasis on drawing from philosophy, theology, and political theory is commendable indeed. Novak honestly and forthrightly speaks of how his theology informs his ethics. Christian Apologetics Journal

• Preface 1. On the Use of Embryonic Stem CellsNormative Questions and Normative ContextsPhilosophy, Politics, and Theology and Their InterrelationsThe Status of the Embryo in Current Jewish DiscussionNatural Law in JudaismThree Rabbinic Texts Pertaining to AbortionThe Embryo before and after the Fortieth Day of GestationLaw and Scientific EvidenceThe Beginning of Human LifePermission or Obligation?Political RealitiesNotes 2. A Jewish Argument for Socialized MedicineUniversal Health Care: Canada and the United StatesMoral and Theological Problems with the Practice of MedicineMedicine as a Sacred ProfessionMedicine as a CallingNonsectarian MedicineNotes 3. Physician-Assisted SuicideTheology, Philosophy, and PoliticsWho is Guilty in Physician-Assisted Suicide?The Physician Kills the PatientThe Physician Orders the Patient KilledThe Physician Orders the Patient to Commit SuicideThe Physician Prepares the Patient for SuicideSuicide as a Reflexive ActSuicide and Personal ResponsibilityPublic Philosophy in a Secular SocietySuicide: Public and PrivateSociety's Claims on the Individual PersonStruggling against the Politics of DeathNotes Bibliography Index

David Novak holds the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies as professor of the study of religion and professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. In 2006 he was appointed as a member of the Canada Assisted Reproduction Agency.

Novak's voice deserves to be heard. This meticulously researched book reveals that there are multiple ways of examining the thorny bioethical issues of modern time. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Readers who appreciate erudite arguments and rigorous scholarship will be interested in this book. The Catholic Register The scope of the book is breathtaking and thought-provoking ... Novak offers refreshingly complex assessments of the interface among biology, society, and morality. Furthermore, the book's explicitly metaphysical orientation is suggestive. The Sanctity of Human Life engages multiple methods and powerful convictions about human life's emergence, its endurance, and its dissolution. From beginning to end, this is no small feat. American Journal of Bioethics [The] strength of this work is that it is written from the point of view of a Jewish theologian who is also a trained philosopher in the natural law tradition ... [The] emphasis on drawing from philosophy, theology, and political theory is commendable indeed. Novak honestly and forthrightly speaks of how his theology informs his ethics. Christian Apologetics Journal

• Preface 1. On the Use of Embryonic Stem CellsNormative Questions and Normative ContextsPhilosophy, Politics, and Theology and Their InterrelationsThe Status of the Embryo in Current Jewish DiscussionNatural Law in JudaismThree Rabbinic Texts Pertaining to AbortionThe Embryo before and after the Fortieth Day of GestationLaw and Scientific EvidenceThe Beginning of Human LifePermission or Obligation?Political RealitiesNotes 2. A Jewish Argument for Socialized MedicineUniversal Health Care: Canada and the United StatesMoral and Theological Problems with the Practice of MedicineMedicine as a Sacred ProfessionMedicine as a CallingNonsectarian MedicineNotes 3. Physician-Assisted SuicideTheology, Philosophy, and PoliticsWho is Guilty in Physician-Assisted Suicide?The Physician Kills the PatientThe Physician Orders the Patient KilledThe Physician Orders the Patient to Commit SuicideThe Physician Prepares the Patient for SuicideSuicide as a Reflexive ActSuicide and Personal ResponsibilityPublic Philosophy in a Secular SocietySuicide: Public and PrivateSociety's Claims on the Individual PersonStruggling against the Politics of DeathNotes Bibliography Index