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Autonomy and Life or Death Decisions

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Is Death Ever Preferable to Life?

Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 14))

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Abstract

I have been arguing for a case that places our highest value on life. If we are to follow such a policy then contentious issues will arise when we are faced with other primary goods. Such a good is autonomy. There are two ways in which we can look at autonomy. One is as primary good that we should value. The other is as an individual right. Some would place autonomy at the top of their hierarchy of what they value. An HVL policy, however, will in general place life above autonomy. Will this lead to unacceptable consequences? An HVL policy will also have to be defended against claims that it may deny an individual’s right to autonomy.

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Endnotes

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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Olver, I.N. (2002). Autonomy and Life or Death Decisions. In: Is Death Ever Preferable to Life?. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1976-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1976-6_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6178-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1976-6

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