New Directions in the Ethics of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

Michael Cholbi is Professor and Personal Chair in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, specializing in the philosophy of death and dying. His authored books include Suicide: The Philosophical Dimensions (Broadview Press, 2011), Understanding Kant’s Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2016), and Grief: A Philosophical Guide (Princeton University Press, forthcoming 2021). His edited books include Immortality and the Philosophy of Death (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015), Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Global Views on Choosing to End Life (Praeger, 2017), and Exploring the Philosophy of Death and Dying: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge, 2020, with T. Timmerman). He is the founder and coordinator of the International Association for the Philosophy of Death and Dying and an ordinary member of the Scottish Cross-Parliamentary Group on End of Life Choices. Jukka Varelius is a philosopher whose work focuses on questions of moral philosophy and applied ethics. He has written on topics such as physician-assisted death, individual autonomy, informed consent, advance directives, the nature of mental and physical health, human enhancement, and ethical expertise in journals like Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Neuroethics, Bioethics, Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, Journal of Applied Philosophy, The Journal of Value Inquiry, and Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. Varelius is also a co-editor of Adaptation and Autonomy: Adaptive Preferences in Enhancing and Ending Life (Springer, 2013).

Chapter 1. Assisted Dying and the Proper Role of Patient Autonomy (Emma C. Bullock).- Chapter 2. Preventing Assistance to Die: Assessing Indirect Paternalism Regarding Voluntary Active Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (Thomas Schramme).- Chapter 3. Autonomy, Interests, Justice and Active Medical Euthanasia (Julian Savulescu).- Chapter 4. Mental Illness, Lack of Autonomy, and Physician-Assisted Death (Jukka Varelius).- Chapter 5. Assisted Dying for Individuals with Dementia: Challenges for Translating Ethical Positions into Law (Jocelyn Downie).- Chapter 6. Clinical Ethics Consultation and Physician Assisted Suicide (David M. Adams).- Chapter 7. License to Kill: A New Model for Excusing Medically Assisted Dying? (Richard Huxtable).- Chapter 8. Saving Lives with Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Organ Donation After Assisted Dying (David M. Shaw).- Chapter 9. Everyday Attitudes About Euthanasia and the Slippery Slope Argument (Adam Feltz).- Chapter 10. "You Got Me Into This...": Procreative Responsibility and Its Implications for Suicide and Euthanasia (Rivka Weinberg).- Chapter 11. Due Care in the Context of Euthanasia Requests by Persons with Psychiatric Illness: Lessons from a Recent Criminal Trial in Belgium (Marc De Hert).- Chapter 12. Medical Futility and Assisted Dying (Nancy S. Jecker).- Chapter 13. Medical Aid in Dying: The Case of Disability (Christopher A. Riddle).- Chapter 14. A Feminist Approach to Medical Aid in Dying: Identifying a Path Forward (Jennifer A. Parks).- Chapter 15. Envisioning Markets in Assisted Dying (Michael Cholbi).- Chapter 16. Robots, AI, and Assisted Dying: Ethical and Philosophical Considerations (Ryan Tonkens).- Chapter 17. Dying to Live: Transhumanism, Cryonics, and Euthanasia (Adam Buben).- Chapter 18. When is Self-perceived Burden an Acceptable Reason to Hasten Death? (Michael Gill).