Life and death : philosophical essays in biomedical ethics

Frontmatter......Page 1
Contents......Page 7
Sources and acknowledgments......Page 9
Introduction......Page 15
PART I - PHYSICIANS AND PATIENTS MAKING TREATMENT DECISIONS......Page 33
1 - Informed consent......Page 35
2 - The ideal of shared decision making between physicians and patients......Page 69
3 - When competent patients make irrational choices......Page 94
PART II - LIFE-AND-DEATH DECISIONS IN THE CLINIC......Page 107
4 - Moral rights and permissible killing......Page 109
5 - Taking human life......Page 137
6 - Death and dying......Page 158
7 - Forgoing life-sustaining food and water: Is it killing?......Page 198
8 - Voluntary active euthanasia......Page 216
PART III - LIFE-AND-DEATH DECISIONS IN HEALTH POLICY......Page 247
9 - The value of prolonging human life......Page 249
10 - Quality of life measures in health care and medical ethics......Page 282
11 - The problem of low benefit/high cost health care......Page 339
12 - Justice and the severely demented elderly......Page 370
13 - Justice, health care, and the elderly......Page 402
14 - Truth or consequences: The role of philosophers in policy-making......Page 422
Index......Page 431