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The Best of Times/The Worst of Times: Aging and Dependency in the 21st Century

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Ethical Dimensions of Geriatric Care

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

Abstract

Can we resist the metaphor of the “wonderful one-hoss-shay” alluded to by Fries in his article ‘Aging, Natural Death and the Compression of Morbidity’ [13]? We all yearn to live in perfect physical and mental harmony with ourselves and our surroundings until some long-postponed event suddenly snatches away our lives. How stark in contrast are W. B. Yeats’ lines in his poem ‘Sailing to Byzantium’:

Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is.

My commentary suggests that the human body increasingly outlives its parts — its knees, its back, its eyes, its ears, and its mind.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Jacob A. Brody

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  1. Jacob A. Brody
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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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Brody, J.A. (1987). The Best of Times/The Worst of Times: Aging and Dependency in the 21st Century. 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_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3391-0_1

  • 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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