Christian Munthe – författare

Olof Palme åker till Moskva tio år före mordet. Tjugofyra år efter sista dansen vaknar Alice av mobilens surr. Barnen tar till våld av kärlek till hembygden. Leszek och Katty delar taxi genom kommunismens natt. Från Västerbotten till Warszawa. Från sjuttiotalets skärgårdsidyll till nittiotal i Stockholms innerstad. Från Svedmyra till småstad. Från Vintergatan till framtidens liv efter döden.

Nio berättelser om människor i kamp med livets villkor och med samtiden – men allra mest med sig själva, vad de gör mot andra och vad andra gör mot dem.

Christian Munthe, född 1962 och bosatt i Göteborg, är författare, skribent och filosof. Rejäl polsk frotté är hans andra skönlitterära bok.

"Musiken från orkestern blandas med mina minnen, jag dansar till tonerna. Rör mig följsamt över ängen. Intensiteten ökar och trumpeterna tar över melodin. Stegvis stiger tempot och jag rör mig snabbare i växtligheten. Snurrar så nattlinnet står ut och skärpet från morgonrocken lossnar. Jag höjer armarna i crescendot och valthornens toner ljuder över trumpeternas. Eufonium och tromboner, pukorna dundrar som bultandet i mitt bröst, pulsen i mina tinningar. Jag ryser, skälver."

29 författare skriver om musikens inverkan på upplevelser, minnen och livet.

Christian Munthe undertakes an innovative, in-depth philosophical analysis of what the idea of a precautionary principle is and should be about. A novel theory of the ethics of imposing risks is developed and used as a foundation for defending the idea of precaution in environmental and technological policy making against its critics, while at the same time avoiding a number of identified flaws. The theory is shown to have far-reaching practical conclusions for areas such as bio-, information- and nuclear technology, and global environmental policy in areas such as climate change. The author argues that, while the price we pay for precaution must not be too high, we have to be prepared to pay it in order to act ethically defensible. A number of practical suggestions for precautionary regulation and policy making are made on the basis of this, and some challenges to basic ethical theory as well as consumerist societies, the global political order and liberal democracy are identified.

Munthe’s book is a well-argued contribution to the PP debate, putting neglected justificatory and methodological questions at the forefront. His many discussions of alternative accounts as well as his drawing out the consequences of his own suggestion in practical cases give the reader a thorough, holistic sense of what justification of PP amounts to. /..../ Munthe’s main case, his argumentation for the requirement of precaution as a moral norm, is convincing and puts a strong pressure on too narrow alternative suggestions on how it should be perceived and justified, and he launches a plausible defence of its practical usability.

Medical or health-oriented screening programs are amongst the most debated aspects of health care and public health practices in health care and public health ethics, as well as health policy discussions. In spite of this, most treatments of screening in the research literature restrict themselves to isolated scientific aspects, sometimes complemented by economic analyses or loose speculations regarding policy aspects. At the same time, recent advances in medical genetics and technology, as well as a rapidly growing societal focus on public health concerns, inspires an increase in suggested or recently started screening programs.

This book involves an in-depth analysis of the ethical, political and philosophical issues related to health-oriented screening programs. It explores the considerations that arise when heath care interacts with other societal institutions on a large scale, as is the case with screening: What values may be promoted or compromised by screening programs? What conflicts of values do typically arise – both internally and in relation to the goals of health care, on the one hand, and the goals of public health and the general society, on the other? What aspects of screening are relevant for determining whether it should be undertaken or not and how it should be organised in order to remain defensible? What implications does the ethics of screening have for health care ethics as a whole?

These questions are addressed by applying philosophical methods of conceptual analysis, as well as models and theories from moral and political philosophy, medical ethics, and public health ethics, to a large number of ongoing and proposed screening programs which makes this book the first comprehensive work on the ethics of screening. Analyses and suggestions are made that are of potential interest to health care staff, medical researchers, policy makers and the general public.