FRITZ JAHR (1895-1953), a Protestant theologian in Halle an der Saale, Germany, coined the term BIOETHICS in 1926 and defined the BIOETHICAL IMPERATIVE: "Respect every living being on principle as an end in itself and treat it, if possible, as such". In critical dialogue with Kant's Categorical Imperative he developed the concept of modern situational bioethics. These 22 articles, written between 1924 and 1948, cover issues of ethics towards animals, plants and environments, also the ethics of social interactions with all forms of life and multiworlds. The essays are of current and historical interest and serve as a guide to future global and integrated bioethics.

Irene M. Miller, a cellist, is retired from the practice of medicine and has worked in Africa, China and the USA. HansMartin Sass is a Senior Research Scholar Emeritus, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington DC.