Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?

Sheldon Ekland-Olson joined The University of Texas at Austin after completing his graduate work at the University of Washington in Seattle and Yale Law School. He is currently the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts and serving as the Director of the School of Human Ecology. For five years he served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and then for eight years as Executive Vice President and Provost of the university. He has authored or co-authored several books and numerous articles on criminal justice, prison reform, and capital punishment. Widely recognized for his commitment to teaching undergraduates, he is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. His current interests are reflected in the book, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?; an exploration of how communities have gone about justifying the violation of universally held moral imperatives. He is married to his best friend, Carolyn. They have two children, well grown. These children have produced seven grand children, all as it turns out, perfectly perfect.

1. A Single Question PART I: A Moral System Evolves 2. An Exclusionary Movement is Born 3. Legal Reform to Eliminate Defectives 4. Redrawing the Boundaries of Protected Life 5. Crystallizing Events and Ethical Principles PART II: The Early Moments and Months of Life 6. A Bolt from the Blue: Abortion is Legalized 7. Man’s Law or God’s Will 8. Inches from Life 9. Should the Baby Live? PART III: The Boundaries of Tolerable Suffering 10. Limits to Tolerable Suffering 11. Alleviating Suffering and Protecting Life 12. God, Duty, and Life Worth Living 13. Assisted Dying PART IV: Taking Life and Inflicting Suffering 14. Removing the Protective Boundaries of Life 15. A Campaign to Stop the Executions 16. The Pendulum Swings, the Debate Continues 17. Lessons Learned