Research on Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type

Abstract

There are certain values that we would all, in general, agree upon and therefore designate as prevailing cultural or professional norms. These include integrity (or honesty), respect for other persons, justice (or fairness), and compassion. The issue we focus on here is troublesome because it seems to embody conflicting values. The conflict is at times more apparent than real, and one function of philosophical analysis is to clarify issues in order to resolve conflict. There are also, however, conflicts that are and will remain very real. We are asking difficult questions that need to be asked. The asking is as important as the answer, so we should give these questions a full measure of our attention rather than only seek the route that seems most expeditious. If any light can be shed on such engimas of value and meaning, it is likely to occur in an interdisciplinary discourse such as this. Since we are all in some way limited by the value hierarchies of our individual professions, we only stand to be enlightened by a convergence of various relevant perspectives.