Euthanasia Examined: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives

by Edited by John Keown , Foreword by Daniel Callahan

• ISBN13: 9780521586139
• ISBN10: 0521586135
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-06-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Whether euthanasia or assisted suicide should be legalised is one of the most pressing and profound questions facing legislators, health-care professionals, their patients and indeed all members of society. Regrettably, the debate is too often characterised by rhetoric rather than reason. This book aims to inform the debate by acquainting anyone interested in this vital question with some of the major ethical, legal and clinical and theological issues involved. The essays it contains are authoritative, balanced and readable: authoritative in that they have been commissioned from some of the world's leading experts; balanced in that they reflect divergent viewpoints (including a vigorous debate between two eminent philosophers); and readable in that they should be readily intelligible to the general reader. This accessible, fair and learned collection should enlighten all who wish to be better informed about the debate surrounding this momentous issue.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	xi	(2)
Forework	xiii
Daniel Callahan
Introduction	1	(5)
John Keown
1 Euthanasia and the value of life	6	(17)
John Harris
2 A philosophical case against euthanasia	23	(13)
John Finnis
3 The philosophical case against the philosophical case against euthanasia	36	(10)
John Harris
4 The fragile case for euthanasia: a reply to John Harris	46	(10)
John Finnis
5 Final thoughts on final acts	56	(6)
John Harris
6 Misunderstanding the case against euthanasia: response to Harris's first reply	62	(10)
John Finnis
7 Euthanasia: back to the future	72	(11)
Kenneth Boyd
8 The case for legalising voluntary euhanasia	83	(13)
Jean Davies
9 Extracts from the Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics	96	(17)
10 Walton, Davies, Boyd and the legalization of euthanasia	113	(28)
Luke Gormally
11 Where there is hope, there is life: a view from the hospice	141	(28)
Robert G. Twycross
12 Letting vegetative patients die	169	(20)
Bryan Jennett
13 A case for sometimes tube-feeding patients in persistent vegetative state	189	(11)
Joseph Boyle
14 Dilemmas at life's end: a comparative legal perspective	200	(25)
Dieter Giesen
15 Physician-assisted suicide: the last bridge to active voluntary euthanasia	225	(36)
Yale Kamisar
16 Euthanasia in the Netherlands: sliding down the slippery slope?	261	(36)
John Keown
17 Advance directives: a legal and ethical analysis	297	(18)
Stuart Hornett
18 Theological aspects of euthanasia	315	(18)
Anthony Fisher
Index	333