Tod Chambers suggests that literary theory is a crucial component in the complete understanding of bioethics. The Fiction of Bioethics explores the medical case study and distills the idea that bioethicists study real-life cases, while philosophers contemplate

fictional accounts.

Chambers argues that case studies ethicists use are in fact, fiction, and thus follow representations of perception. Literary theory can inform and provide an important angle for the ethicist attempting to discern meaning from case studies. This book examines

literary conventions including point of view, plot, characterization and authorship, to demonstrate the significance of fiction in bioethical case studies.

things will never look quite the same again

(John Lantos, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of Chicago Hospitals)