Charles Foster – författare

Depression is amorphous. It defies easy generalization, and eludes medical and legal categories. Is it part of the self, or its predator? Can a sufferer be held responsible for their actions? This edited collection provides a holistic study of a protean illness.If the law is to regulate the lives of those who suffer from depression, it is vital that lawyers understand the condition. Drawing upon a wide-ranging expertise, this volume looks at depression from four viewpoints: that of the sufferer, the clinician, the ethicist, and the lawyer. Topics covered include the cultural history of depression; causes, epidemiology, and diagnosis; the autonomy debate; criminal responsibility; public health law; depression in the workplace; depression and children; and assisted suicide.First-hand accounts from sufferers are followed by contributions from clinicians who say what depression is, outline its demography and therapeutic options, and indicate the legal and ethical problems that trouble them the most. The essays then go on to explore legal and ethical questions in depth. This collection is essential reading for lawyers seeking a broader understanding of depression, and non-lawyers seeking an insight into the difficulty law has engaging with the condition.

Medical law is concerned with our bodies, and what happens to them during and after our lives. When things go wrong with our bodies, we want to know what our rights are, and what governs the conduct of the clinicians into whose hands we put our lives and limbs. Dealing with matters of life and death, it can therefore have a fundamental impact on medical practice. Headlines in the media often involve the core issues of medical law - organ transplantation, abortion, withdrawal of treatment, euthanasia, confidentiality, research on humans - these are topics that affect us all. Headlines can misrepresent, however. In order to fully understand the issues and their relevance, we have to delve into the cases and into the principles behind them. In this highly readable Very Short Introduction, Charles Foster explores different examples to illustrate the key problems and principles of medical law. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This book examines the idea of a fundamental entitlement to health and healthcare from a human rights perspective.The volume is based on a particular conceptual reasoning that balances critical thinking and pragmatism in the context of a universal right to health. Thus, the primary focus of the book is the relationship or contrast between rights-based discourse/jurisprudential arguments and real-life healthcare contexts. The work sets out the constraints that are imposed on a universal right to health by practical realities such as economic hardship in countries, lack of appropriate governance, and lack of support for the implementation of this right through appropriate resource allocation. It queries the degree to which the existence of this legally enshrined right and its application in instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) can be more than an ephemeral aspiration but can, actually, sustain, promote, and instil good practice. It further asks if social reality and the inequalities that present themselves therein impede the implementation of laudable human rights, particularly within marginalised communities and cadres of people. It deliberates on what states and global bodies do, or could do, in practical terms to ensure that such rights are moved beyond the aspirational and become attainable and implementable. Divided into three parts, the first analyses the notion of a universal inalienable right to health(care) from jurisprudential, anthropological, legal, and ethical perspectives. The second part considers the translation of international human rights norms into specific jurisdictional healthcare contexts. With a global perspective it includes countries with very different legal, economic, and social contexts. Finally, the third part summarises the lessons learnt and provides a pathway for future action.The book will be an invaluable resource for students, academics, and policymakers working in the areas of health law and policy, and international human rights law.

Medical Ethics, Law and Communication at a Glance presents a succinct overview of these key areas of the medical curriculum.This new title aims to provide a concise summary of the three core, interlinked topics essential to resolving ethical dilemmas in medicine and avoiding medico-legal action.Divided into two sections; the first examines the ethical and legal principles underpinning each medical topic; while the second focuses on communication skills and the importance of good communication.Medical Ethics, Law and Communication at a Glance offers an accessible introduction to the fundamentals of good medical practice, and will provide indispensable support for undergraduate medical students and nurses, as well as newly qualified healthcare professionals.

The key focus of this edited text is on the legal and professional conflicts and issues that can arise from regulating health care quality. Doctors and nurses all increasingly face a number of dilemmas with regulating health quality issues such as increasing levels of complaints and litigation, scarcity of resources, under-staffing, professional discipline, clinical governance, clinical risk management etc. This book spells out and discusses these issues, taking an academic approach, though this will be tempered with a practical focus on issues.

On 16 May 1943, nineteen Lancaster aircraft from the RAF’s 617 Squadron set off to attack the great dams in the industrial heart of Germany. Flying at a height of 60ft, they dropped a series of bombs which bounced across the water and destroyed two of their targets, thereby creating a legend. The one-off operation combined an audacious method of attack, technically brilliant flying and visually spectacular results. But while the story of Operation Chastise is well known, most of the 133 ‘Dambusters’ who took part in the Dams Raid have until now been just names on a list. They came from all parts of the UK and the Commonwealth and beyond, and each of them was someone’s son or brother, someone’s husband or father. This is the first book to present their individual stories and celebrate their skill, heroism and, for many, sacrifice.

“When Yahweh became a man, he was a homeless vagrant. He walked through Palestine proclaiming that a mysterious kingdom had arrived...He called people to follow him, and that meant walking.”— Charles FosterHumans are built to wander. History is crisscrossed by their tracks. Sometimes there are obvious reasons for it: to get better food for themselves or their animals; to escape weather, wars, or plague. But sometimes they go—at great expense and risk—in the name of God, seeking a place that feels sacred, that speaks to the heart. God himself seems to have a bias toward the nomad. The road is a favored place — a place of epiphany.That’s all very well if you are fit and free. But what if you are paralyzed by responsibility or disease? What if the only journey you can make is to the office, the school, or the bathroom?Best-selling English author and adventurer Charles Foster has wandered quite a bit, and he knows what can be found (and lost) on a sacred journey. He knows that pilgrimage involves doing something with whatever faith you have. And faith, like muscle, likes being worked.Exploring the history of pilgrimage across cultures and religions, Foster uses tales of his own travels to examine the idea of approaching each day as a  pilgrimage, and he offers encouragement to anyone who wants to experience a sacred journey. The result is an intoxicating, highly readable blend of robust theology and lyrical anecdote — an essential guidebook for every traveler in search of the truth about God, himself, and the world. When Jesus said “Follow me,” he meant us to hit the road with him. The Sacred Journey will show you how.The Ancient PracticesThere is a hunger in every human heart for connection, primitive and raw, to God. To satisfy it, many are beginning to explore traditional spiritual  disciplines used for centuries . . . everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to sincere observance of the Sabbath. Compelling and readable, the Ancient Practices series is for every spiritual sojourner, for every Christian seeker who wants more.

New York Times bestselling author Charles Foster argues that all the best ideas happen at the edges, from a rocky precipice where the first human set foot in Europe to an ancient Egyptian temple where monotheism was invented.'Literal "eccentricity" is where the scientific, artistic and spiritual giants have always found their home. Venture with Foster if you dare, and embrace life.' Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and His EmissaryWe tend to think that everything important comes from the centre: from big cities, from established orthodoxies in the sciences and the arts, from the Establishment in all its forms. We think this because the centre tells us it is so, but it's a lie. It is only at the edges that we think, innovate and thrive.This book travels to the frontiers of human culture and consciousness; to the edges of continents, of evolution, of artistic and political movements, and life itself: from a rocky precipice in the Peloponnese where the first human set foot in Europe to an ancient Egyptian temple where monotheism was invented; from St Francis, kissing lepers to the giant bird-eating mice of St Kilda.Why do we stare at sunsets? Why do we celebrate birthdays and grieve for those who are gone? Why do all adventures begin when we leave and get lost? Who has the better view of reality – the Government or the dispossessed?And what happens when we live with the knowledge that we’re all teetering on the edge of the dark?

This book examines the idea of a fundamental entitlement to health and healthcare from a human rights perspective.The volume is based on a particular conceptual reasoning that balances critical thinking and pragmatism in the context of a universal right to health. Thus, the primary focus of the book is the relationship or contrast between rights-based discourse/jurisprudential arguments and real-life healthcare contexts. The work sets out the constraints that are imposed on a universal right to health by practical realities such as economic hardship in countries, lack of appropriate governance, and lack of support for the implementation of this right through appropriate resource allocation. It queries the degree to which the existence of this legally enshrined right and its application in instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) can be more than an ephemeral aspiration but can, actually, sustain, promote, and instil good practice. It further asks if social reality and the inequalities that present themselves therein impede the implementation of laudable human rights, particularly within marginalised communities and cadres of people. It deliberates on what states and global bodies do, or could do, in practical terms to ensure that such rights are moved beyond the aspirational and become attainable and implementable. Divided into three parts, the first analyses the notion of a universal inalienable right to health(care) from jurisprudential, anthropological, legal, and ethical perspectives. The second part considers the translation of international human rights norms into specific jurisdictional healthcare contexts. With a global perspective it includes countries with very different legal, economic, and social contexts. Finally, the third part summarises the lessons learnt and provides a pathway for future action.The book will be an invaluable resource for students, academics, and policymakers working in the areas of health law and policy, and international human rights law.

This book is a practical guide to practice and procedure in courts and tribunals. It is aimed at the recently qualified practitioner,pupil barristers, trainee solicitors, or lawyers unversed in advocacy and procedure.It provides a guide to applications in most areas of the law, with brief discussions of the relevant law, rules of procedure and practical tips. The applications covered are those which practitioners are likely to encounter in their first years of practice. In addition, each chapter attempts to anticipate likely pitfalls, with suggested solutions. The court system and techniques of advocacy are also covered.This is not a legal textbook, and provides no substitute for legal research. It is designed to be starting point for advocates faced with an unfamiliar task.

Whether it’s the chance to see hundreds on a rocky beach or the excitement of a singular head emerging from the icy sea, spotting a seal is always a thrilling experience. Deeply personal, occasionally revelatory, why is it that these majestic creatures have such an impact on us?Charles Foster is determined to find out, swimming with seals in Scotland, joining a boat tour full of tourists in Norfolk and listening to stories by a pub fire to discover just what seals really mean to humanity. Combining science with lyrical prose and meditative insight, Foster journeys through a year in the life of a seal and reflects on the ways they have shaped his own life and that of the people he meets.From old fishermen’s tales of selkies and the mysterious souls of the greys to playful harbour seals and their adventurous ‘gap year’ travels, Seals is filled with insights into seal biology, behaviour, intelligence and mythology, shining a light on their enduring fascination.