Smith, Joseph Wayne

Joseph Wayne Smith is Research Scholar in the School of Law, University of Adelaide and a Research Fellow in the Department of General Practice, University of Adelaide. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Adelaide University and a D.Litt. from Flinders University of South Australia.

Climate Change as a Crisis in World Civilization

2008 0-7734-5162-5
This study examines the scientific evidence relating to “abrupt” or “dangerous” climate change and explores the social, political, legal and philosophical significance of this evidence. The authors locate the “climate crisis” within the context of a wider crisis of civilization, consisting of a series of converging threats to human survival. There will need to be major changes to human living and thinking, including an abandonment of the idea that unending economic growth and a philosophy of consumer hedonism are compatible with the idea of an ecologically sustainable society.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE, MISTAKES AND MISHAPS:
Essays on Medical Litigation, the Mandatory Reporting of Health Professionals and the Limits of the Law

2013 0-7734-4535-8
This book discusses several important topics. Firstly, the book analyzes the limits of tort law; the problems with Australian law on the negligent failure to disclose medical risks and the merits of no-fault compensation schemes. Then it studies the importance of the elimination of medical error and the adoption of sound and comprehensive risk management principles; apologies and open disclosure in medicine. It also discusses the relationship between expert evidence and medical malpractice litigation.

New Way of Thinking About Our Climate Crisis: The Rational-Comprehensive Approach

2009 0-7734-4808-X
This work provides an examination of the scientific evidence of rapid climate change, offering suggestions on combating the crisis to policy makers. The authors show how our thinking must be transformed in order to avert catastrophe.

Self-Destructive Affluence of the First World: The Coming Crisis of Global Poverty and Ecological Collapse

2010 0-7734-3620-0
This study provides a comprehensive and scholarly introduction to the debate around global apocalypse. The work presents an up-to-date overview of global climatic change, while also addressing challenges from climate change skeptics. Issues discussed include, the limits of scientific knowledge, and the capacity for societies to adapt to environmental challenges.

THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE PRACTICE OF SURGERY:
The Scientific and Public Policy Implications

2015 1-4955-0289-9
This is the first book in the world to be published on the topic of surgery and climate change. It is the aim of this book to present an up-to-date summary of the relevant climate science, information on the impact of climate change upon human health, and to situate the new research paradigm of surgery and climate change within this scientific framework.

THE SURGICAL LITIGATION CRISIS:
Medical Practice and Legal Reform

2010 0-7734-1407-X
The authors bring together a new legal and medical analysis of history and developments in the area of malpractice litigation. The book provides a valuable resource for doctors, lawyers and patients/consumers, especially in terms of its in-depth examination of the components of the surgical litigation crisis and legal reform.

Why Climate Change is Creating New Catastrophic Medical Problems: The Crisis of Surgery

2018 1-4955-0646-8
In this book by Dr. Smith and Dr. Maddern, the argument of The Influence of Climate Change on the Practice of Surgery is expanded upon by placing climate change itself into the context of what Smith and others have called the "crisis of civilization". A "crisis of civilization" is a set of converging sand compounding ecological, resource and socio-political problems that constitute an existential threat to modern techno-industrial civilization. Here, surgery is used as a case study if what it is likely to happen if societies do not make the transition to ecological sustainability, and consequently undergo societal collapse.