Overview
oI will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.O The Hippocratic Oath, written in Greece sometime during the fifth to fourth centuries B.C.E., represented an effort by a small group of physicians to build public trust and to distance themselves from others who would sometimes assist seriously ill persons to commit suicide by supplying poison. Once again physician-assisted suicide (PAS) has become a major ethical issue in medicine. As the exploits of Jack Kevorkian, M.D., are played out in the media and in the courts, physician-assisted suicide has become the focus of intense public and professional debate. The essays in this book are intended to shed light and perspective on the issue of PAS. The authors were selected not only because of their experience and scholarship, but also because they provide readers with differing points of view on a complex subject. Writing from professional backgrounds in history, medicine, philosophy, religion, and law, the authors provide us with essays characterized by careful analysis, experienced insight, solid scholarship, and strong, sometimes passionate arguments. Part I contains two historical interpretations that set the stage for the rest of the book. The essays in Part II address the question of whether PAS is morally justifiable I individual cases. Part III focuses specifically on physicians who have to decide whether they are morally obligated to take on the role of enabler when asked by their patients, or whether they are morally or legally obligated to turn down such requests. Part IV focuses on persons with disabilities and women who may be inclined to request assistance in committing suicide because of serious problems connected with their disabilities or gender. Part V addresses PAS as an issue of law and public policy.
Full Product Details
Author: Robert F Weir
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.90cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.786kg
ISBN: 9780253332820
ISBN 10: 0253332826
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 22 May 1997
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print
Availability: Awaiting stock
Reviews
The book is extremely well balanced: in each section there is usually an argument for and against the positions raised. It is a useful and well-thought-out text. It will make people think and discuss the problems raised, which I think is the editor's main purpose. - Journal of Medical Ethics ... a volume that is to be commended for the clarity of its contributions, and for the depth it gains from its narrow focus. In places, this is a deeply moving, as well as closely argued, book. - Times Literary Supplement This work is an excellent historical and philosophical resource on a very difficult subject. - Choice This collection of well-written and carefully argued essays should be interesting, illuminating, and thought provoking for students, clinicians, and scholars. - New England Journal of Medicine This book is highly recommended ... - Pharmacy Book Review This is a well-balanced collection and the essays are of uniformly good quality... very readable... should be useful to anyone interested in this topic. - Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Home Page Physician-Assisted Suicide continues in the fine tradition of the Medical Ethics series published by Indiana University Press. Chapters are authored by outstanding scholars from both sides of the debate, providing a balanced, in-depth exploration of physician-assisted suicide along clinical, ethical, historical, and public policy dimensions. It is important reading for those who want to better understand the complex, multilayered issues that underlie this emotionally-laden topic. - Timothy Quill, M.D. Robert Weir has produced the finest collection of essays on physician assisted dying yet assembled in one volume. Physician assisted dying involves ethical and legal issues of enormous complexity. The deep strength of this anthology is its multi-disciplinary approach, which insightfully brings to bear interpretations from history, moral philosophy, religion, clinical practice, and law. This is a subject, much like abortion, that has divided America. This volume provides balanced scholarship that will help inform opinions from the hospital and hospice bedside to the halls of federal and state legislatures and courtrooms. - Lawrence O. Gostin, Co-Director, Georgetown/Johns Hopkins Program on Law and Public Health This book is a timely and valuable contribution to the debate. Highly recommended for academic collections. - Library Journal
"""The book is extremely well balanced: in each section there is usually an argument for and against the positions raised. It is a useful and well-thought-out text. It will make people think and discuss the problems raised, which I think is the editor's main purpose."" - Journal of Medical Ethics ""... a volume that is to be commended for the clarity of its contributions, and for the depth it gains from its narrow focus. In places, this is a deeply moving, as well as closely argued, book."" - Times Literary Supplement ""This work is an excellent historical and philosophical resource on a very difficult subject."" - Choice ""This collection of well-written and carefully argued essays should be interesting, illuminating, and thought provoking for students, clinicians, and scholars."" - New England Journal of Medicine ""This book is highly recommended ..."" - Pharmacy Book Review ""This is a well-balanced collection and the essays are of uniformly good quality... very readable... should be useful to anyone interested in this topic."" - Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Home Page ""Physician-Assisted Suicide continues in the fine tradition of the Medical Ethics series published by Indiana University Press. Chapters are authored by outstanding scholars from both sides of the debate, providing a balanced, in-depth exploration of physician-assisted suicide along clinical, ethical, historical, and public policy dimensions. It is important reading for those who want to better understand the complex, multilayered issues that underlie this emotionally-laden topic."" - Timothy Quill, M.D. ""Robert Weir has produced the finest collection of essays on physician assisted dying yet assembled in one volume. Physician assisted dying involves ethical and legal issues of enormous complexity. The deep strength of this anthology is its multi-disciplinary approach, which insightfully brings to bear interpretations from history, moral philosophy, religion, clinical practice, and law. This is a subject, much like abortion, that has divided America. This volume provides balanced scholarship that will help inform opinions from the hospital and hospice bedside to the halls of federal and state legislatures and courtrooms."" - Lawrence O. Gostin, Co-Director, Georgetown/Johns Hopkins Program on Law and Public Health ""This book is a timely and valuable contribution to the debate. Highly recommended for academic collections."" - Library Journal"
Author Information
Robert F. Weir is Director of the Program in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities at the University of Iowa College of Medicine.
