Buddhism & Bioethics

The book is organized into three main parts. Part 1, “Buddhism, Medicine and Ethics,” introduces the relation between Buddhist thought and medical practice, surveys medicine in India and in monastic contexts, discusses Buddhist ethics, natural law, and the idea of human good. Part 2, “At the Beginning of Life,” examines when life begins, reviews relevant source material, analyzes embryo loss and twinning, addresses embryo research, and discusses fertility control. Part 3, “At the End of Life,” studies the nature and definition of death, Buddhist attitudes toward death, euthanasia in relation to early sources, and euthanasia in modern views. Through these chapters, the book moves from foundational moral theory to applied bioethical case studies, showing how Buddhist principles can be brought into structured ethical analysis of life, death, medicine, and human dignity.