ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines in detail the theoretical background of the subject, first by describing a range of moral theories and then by looking at other perspectives on bioethics. It deals with clinical ethics and also with research ethics and research integrity. The book also deals with justice in public health, health care delivery and global health. In some respects bioethics has a very long history. Modern bioethics comes in part from medical ethics and specifically from the ethics of medical research. However, dubious research practice was not the only reason for the burgeoning of bioethics in the decades following the Second World War. Thus the main method of bioethics has to be concerned with the justification of moral views, not just with a description of who thinks what, or of the social factors that influence people's views.
