Cutting to the Core

When the benefits of surgery do not outweigh the harms or where they do not clearly do so, surgical interventions become morally contested. Cutting to the Core examines a number of such surgeries, including infant male circumcision and cutting the genitals of female children, the separation of conjoined twins, surgical sex assignment of intersex children and the surgical re-assignment of transsexuals, limb and face transplantation, cosmetic surgery, and placebo surgery.

Surgery inevitably inflicts some harm on the body. At the very least, it damages the tissue that is cut. These harms often are clearly outweighed by the overall benefits to the patient. However, where the benefits do not outweigh the harms or where they do not clearly do so, surgical interventions become morally contested. Cutting to the Core examines a number of such surgeries, including infant male circumcision and cutting the genitals of female children, the separation of conjoined twins, surgical sex assignment of intersex children and the surgical re-assignment of transsexuals, limb and face transplantation, cosmetic surgery, and placebo surgery. When, if ever, do the benefits of these surgeries outweigh their costs? May a surgeon perform dangerous procedures that are not clearly to the patient's benefit, even if the patient consents to them? May a surgeon perform any surgery on a minor patient if there are no clear benefits to that child? These and other related questions are the core themes of this collection of essays.

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Introduction: The Ethics of Contested Surguries
Chapter 3
Chapter I: Male Circumcision and Female Genital Cutting
Chapter 4 1. Between Prophylaxis and Child Abuse: The Ethics of Neonatal Male Circumcision
Chapter 5 2. The Ethics of Neonatal Male Circumcision: Helping Parents to Decide
Chapter 6 3. Genital Alteration of Female Minors
Chapter 7
Chapter II: Sex Assignment and Reassignment Surgery
Chapter 8 4. The Ethics of Surgically Assigning Sex for Intersex Infants
Chapter 9 5. Transsexualism and Gender Reassignment Surgery
Chapter 10
Chapter III: Separating Conjoined Twins
Chapter 11 6. Separating Conjoined Twins: Disability, Ontology and Moral Status
Chapter 12 7. Conjunction and Separation: Viable Relationships, Equitable Partings
Chapter 13
Chapter IV: Limb and Face Transplantation
Chapter 14 8. Ethical Issues in Limb Transplants
Chapter 15 9. Changing faces: Ethics, identity and facial transplantation
Chapter 16
Chapter V: Cosmetic Surgery
Chapter 17 10. A Defence of Cosmetic Surgery
Chapter 18 11. Beauty under the Knife: A Feminist Appraisal of Cosmetic Surgery
Chapter 19
Chapter VI: Placebo Surgery
Chapter 20 12. The Emperor's New Scar: The Ethics of Placebo Surgery
Chapter 21 13. Sham Surgery and Reasonable Risks
Chapter 22 Suggestions for Further Reading
Chapter 23 Index
Chapter 24 About the Editor and Contributors