About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherMIT Press

ISBN-10026254248X

ISBN-139780262542487

eBay Product ID (ePID)20050065302

Product Key Features

Number of Pages264 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameGood Ethics and Bad Choices : the Relevance of Behavioral Economics for Medical Ethics

Publication Year2021

SubjectEthics, Consumer Behavior, General, Health Policy

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaBusiness & Economics, Medical

AuthorJennifer S. Blumenthal-Barby

SeriesBasic Bioethics Ser.

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.5 in

Item Weight12.5 Oz

Item Length9.1 in

Item Width6.1 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2020-031704

Dewey Edition23

Reviews"Blumenthal-Barby (Baylor College of Medicine) offers a fascinating exploration [ . . . . ] The ensuing discussions will be juicy."-- Choice

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal174.2

Table Of ContentChapter One: Decision Psychology and Medical Decision Making--How Patients Decide Chapter Two: Bad Decisions?: What Behavioral Economics Means for Patient Autonomy, Decision Quality, and Well-being Chapter Three: The Ethics of Using Nudging and Choice Architecture to Improve Decision-Making: Four Arguments for Nudging Chapter Four: Are All Nudges Ethically Equal? Chapter Five: Nudging in the Weeds: Case Studies of Nudging in the Clinic Conclusion

SynopsisAn analysis of how findings in behavioral economics challenge fundamental assumptions of medical ethics, integrating the latest research in both fields. Bioethicists have long argued for rational persuasion to help patients with medical decisions. But the findings of behavioral economics--popularized in Thaler and Sunstein's Nudge and other books--show that arguments depending on rational thinking are unlikely to be successful and even that the idea of purely rational persuasion may be a fiction. In Good Ethics and Bad Choices , Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby examines how behavioral economics challenges some of the most fundamental tenets of medical ethics. She not only integrates the latest research from both fields but also provides examples of how physicians apply concepts of behavioral economics in practice. Blumenthal-Barby analyzes ethical issues raised by "nudging" patient decision making and argues that the practice can improve patient decisions, prevent harm, and perhaps enhance autonomy. She then offers a more detailed ethical analysis of further questions that arise, including whether nudging amounts to manipulation, to what extent and at what point these techniques should be used, when and how their use would be wrong, and whether transparency about their use is required. She provides a snapshot of nudging "in the weeds," reporting on practices she observed in clinical settings including psychiatry, pediatric critical care, and oncology. Warning that there is no "single, simple account of the ethics of nudging," Blumenthal-Barby offers a qualified defense, arguing that a nudge can be justified in part by the extent to which it makes patients better off., An analysis of how findings in behavioral economics challenge fundamental assumptions of medical ethics, integrating the latest research in both fields. Bioethicists have long argued for rational persuasion to help patients with medical decisions. But the findings of behavioral economics-popularized in Thaler and Sunstein's Nudgeand other books-show that arguments depending on rational thinking are unlikely to be successful and even that the idea of purely rational persuasion may be a fiction. In Good Ethics and Bad Choices , Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby examines how behavioral economics challenges some of the most fundamental tenets of medical ethics. She not only integrates the latest research from both fields but also provides examples of how physicians apply concepts of behavioral economics in practice. Blumenthal-Barby analyzes ethical issues raised by "nudging" patient decision making and argues that the practice can improve patient decisions, prevent harm, and perhaps enhance autonomy. She then offers a more detailed ethical analysis of further questions that arise, including whether nudging amounts to manipulation, to what extent and at what point these techniques should be used, when and how their use would be wrong, and whether transparency about their use is required. She provides a snapshot of nudging "in the weeds," reporting on practices she observed in clinical settings including psychiatry, pediatric critical care, and oncology. Warning that there is no "single, simple account of the ethics of nudging," Blumenthal-Barby offers a qualified defense, arguing that a nudge can be justified in part by the extent to which it makes patients better off.

LC Classification NumberR724