Aging, Death, and Human Longevity by Christine Overall

Aging, Death, and Human Longevity by Christine Overall

With the help of medicine and technology we are living longer than ever before. As human life spans have increased, the moral and political issues surrounding longevity have become more complex. Should we desire to live as long as possible? What are the social ramifications of longer lives? How does a longer life span change the way we think about the value of our lives and about death and dying? Christine Overall offers a clear and intelligent discussion of the philosophical and cultural issues surrounding this difficult and often emotionally charged issue. Her book is unique in its comprehensive presentation and evaluation of the arguments - both ancient and contemporary - for and against prolonging life. It also proposes a progressive social policy for responding to dramatic increases in life expectancy. Writing from a feminist perspective, Overall highlights the ways that our biases about race, class, and gender have affected our views of elderly people and longevity, and her policy recommendations represent an effort to overcome these biases. She also covers the arguments surrounding the question of the 'duty to die' and includes a provocative discussion of immortality. After judiciously weighing the benefits and the risks of prolonging human life, Overall persuasively concludes that the length of life does matter and that its duration can make a difference to the quality and value of our lives. Her book will be an essential guide as we consider our social responsibilities, the meaning of human life, and the prospects of living longer.

"Is a longer life a good in itself? Christine Overall carefully explores the philosophical tradition and current arguments to conclude that living a longer life is betterFor those who believe that philosophy should concern real issues of everyday life that genuinely matter to our ability to live well, this book is essential."-Joan Tronto, author of Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care; "This terrific book should be read by anybody who wants to think clearly about aging, death, or longevity. It takes on the widespread opposition to systematic social attention to prolonging healthy life, layig bare some of its unsavory underpinnings (ageism, sexism, etc.). It also encourages us to think creatively about what longer life could offer us and humanity as a whole."-Laura Purdy, author of Reproducing Persons"

Christine Overall is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is author of Thinking Like a Woman: Personal Life and Political Ideas (2001), A Feminist I: Reflections from Academia (1998), and Human Reproduction: Principles, Practices, Policies (1993), among other books.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780520232983
ISBN 10	0520232984
Titel	Aging, Death, and Human Longevity
Autor	Christine Overall
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	University of California Press
Erscheinungsjahr	2003-02-04
Seitenanzahl	276
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar