Illness as Metaphor

considers the role of nurses and thinks that because they are an essential part of health care, they are accountable for their activities and not merely answerable to some higher authority. That means that they must adopt a critical attitude to others involved in health care and should address their minds to issues rather than accept the views of others. The final contribution, by David Roy, states that philosophers have a responsibility to the public to develop a system of values which will serve as a guide in dealing with these biomedical issues. He feels that universal ethical standards should be developed by reference to the nature of things rather than man whose nature is subject to radical change. These essays are ofa high standard and they point emphatically to the need for an interdisciplinary approach to the issues with which they seek to grapple. They should appeal to the lay and the profession alike, but the lay person may at times wonder where he has got to, when he finds one view convincingly presented, only to find it attacked in the immediately following pages. Perhaps he should not be discouraged by this, in that none of the essayists claims that the issues have simple solutions. It is hoped that these essays and others like them will be used by students of medicine, law and philosophy to their certain advantage. D J CUSINE