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Choosing the Time to Die: The Ethics and Economics of Suicide in Old Age

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Ethical Dimensions of Geriatric Care

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine ((PHME,volume 25))

Abstract

In recent discussions of distributive justice in health care, an ancient notion is again achieving currency: that when there are not enough resources to go around, the claims of the old — who no longer make economic contributions to society and who have already lived beyond a normal lifespan — diminish in comparison with the claims of the young. When not all needs and preferences can be satisfied, priorities in health care should go to those who remain productive and whose lives are not yet complete. This distributive issue about the relative strengths of claims of the elderly versus those of the young will be, no doubt, a central philosophical and economic issue for geriatrics in the 21st century — the topic to which this volume is addressed — and is very quickly becoming a pressing issue in the current century as well.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Margaret P. Battin

Authors
  1. Margaret P. Battin
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Humanistic Studies in Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA

    Stuart F. Spicker Ph.D. (Professor of Community Medicine and Health Care (philosophy) (Professor of Community Medicine and Health Care (philosophy)

  2. Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri at Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA

    Stanley R. Ingman Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Behavioral Science (sociology) (Associate Professor of Behavioral Science (sociology)

  3. School of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA

    Ian R. Lawson M.D., F.R.C.P (Edin.), F.A.C.P. (Clinical Professor of Community Medicine and Health Care (geriatric medicine) (Clinical Professor of Community Medicine and Health Care (geriatric medicine)

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© 1987 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Battin, M.P. (1987). Choosing the Time to Die: The Ethics and Economics of Suicide in Old Age. In: Spicker, S.F., Ingman, S.R., Lawson, I.R. (eds) Ethical Dimensions of Geriatric Care. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 25. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3391-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3391-0_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8020-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-3391-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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