Is Death Ever Preferable to Life?Springer Science & Business Media, 2002 M11 30 - 165 pages This is an original contribution to the much debated area of the value that we should place on human life. With the euthanasia issue highlighted in the public arena this book argues for a non-absolutist highest value on life ethic and how that fits with society's current emphasis on individual autonomy. Not only are the arguments for and against placing a highest value on life explored but the way of arguing particularly the use of slippery slopes is discussed. By the use of everyday examples the impact of placing a high value on life is explored. A futuristic intensive care ward round illustrates the ethical and resource issues with which we would be challenged in adopting a highest value on life policy for medical decisions. This book will be useful for students of ethics, nursing and medicine as well as those engaged in the public debate on euthanasia. |
Contents
IN THE BEGINNING | 3 |
Defining Death | 5 |
Regarding Life | 6 |
The Relative Value of Life and Individual Autonomy | 7 |
Rationing Health Resources | 8 |
THE DEFINITION OF DEATH | 10 |
Biological Approach to Death | 12 |
Brain Death Criteria | 13 |
Precedent Slippery Slope Arguments | 100 |
Combined Slippery Slope Arguments In Bioethical Debate | 101 |
Slippery Slopes and the Definition of Death | 104 |
Slippery Slopes at the End of Life | 106 |
Respect for the Dead and Slippery Slopes | 107 |
Respecting the Wishes of the Dead | 108 |
Slippery Slopes and the Sanctity of Life Doctrine | 109 |
A Slippery Slope Between Passive and Active Euthanasia? | 111 |
Lower Brain Death | 14 |
Upper Brain Death | 15 |
Anencephaly | 17 |
A Hierarchy of Organ Deaths | 18 |
Personhood | 20 |
Application of the Hierarchy of Organ Deaths | 24 |
Respect for Dead Bodies | 27 |
DEATH RELATIVE TO LIFE | 30 |
The Value of Life | 31 |
The Inability to Create Life | 32 |
Comparing Life to Death | 34 |
Death as Foreclosure of Lifes Options | 39 |
Acts and Omissions | 49 |
The Principle of Double Effect | 53 |
Ordinary and Extraordinary Means | 58 |
Defending Life on Top of the Hierarchy of Values | 60 |
AUTONOMY AND LIFE OR DEATH DECISIONS | 71 |
Whose Life is it Anyway? | 72 |
What is an Autonomous Decision? | 73 |
Intentionality | 74 |
Authenticity | 78 |
Moral Reflection | 81 |
Autonomy Requires Life | 82 |
Mills Paradox in Defending Autonomy | 83 |
Occurent and Dispositional Autonomy | 84 |
Autonomy as a Right | 85 |
HVL and Making an Autonomous Decision to Die | 88 |
Mills Bridge Example | 89 |
Reeducation or Coercion? | 90 |
HVL vs An Autonomous Decision to Die | 93 |
SLIPPERY SLOPES AND LIFE AND DEATH | 97 |
Slippery Slope Arguments | 98 |
Causal Slippery Slope Arguments | 99 |
Legalising Euthanasia and Intolerable Circumstances | 112 |
What do we mean by bad results? | 113 |
Euthanasia and the Precedent Slippery Slope | 115 |
Euthanasia and the Causal Slippery Slope | 116 |
Boundaries to Slippery Slopes | 117 |
Slippery Slopes and Voluntary Euthanasia | 118 |
Autonomy and Slippery Slopes | 120 |
Conclusions | 121 |
LIMITED RESOURCES LIMITING LIFE? | 122 |
Distribution of Resources | 123 |
Libertarian Theories of Justice | 124 |
Utilitarian Theory and Distributive Justice | 126 |
QALYs | 128 |
The Oregon Plan | 130 |
Triage | 132 |
Egalitarian Theories and Resource Allocation | 133 |
Rawlss Theory of Justice | 134 |
HVL and Health Distribution Policies | 136 |
HVL and Distributive Justice for Health Care | 139 |
Health Resource Allocation as a Constraint on HVL | 140 |
Should Clinicians Have a Dual Role? | 141 |
Conclusions | 143 |
FUTURE ETHICS | 145 |
Bed 2 | 146 |
Bed 6 | 147 |
Case Studies and HVL Policy | 148 |
Bed 3 | 149 |
Bed 5 | 150 |
Bed 6 | 151 |
Beds 710 | 152 |
ENDNOTES | 154 |
| 163 | |
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Common terms and phrases
absolutist accept acts and omissions alive allow anencephalics antibiotics argued autonomous decision autonomy believe benefit Bioethics body boundaries brain death brainstem cancer chapter choose death concept of death consequences considered contends criteria dead defend definition of death desire difficult dilemmas discussed distribution distributive justice doctor doctrine dying Ethics example explore Firstly foetus function goal health resources hierarchy of organ highest value human HVL policy individual's irreversible loss issues judgement justice killing and letting Kuhse legalising libertarian lives maximise morally relevant Nazi Nazi Germany neocortex organ deaths outcome overriding pain palliative care persistent vegetative person personhood Peter Singer position possible potential preferences preserve principle problem QALYs rational reasonable recognised resource allocation respect responsibility sanctity satisfy saving treatments scenario side effects situation slippery slope arguments society suffering suggest theories of justice transplant treatment decisions utilitarian ventilator voluntary euthanasia wish