Liberalism's troubled search for equality : religion and cultural bias in the Oregon physician-assisted suicide debates / Robert P. Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Robert P. (Robert Patrick)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Assisted suicide--Religious aspects.

Assisted suicide.

Right to die--Religious aspects.

Right to die.

Euthanasia--Religious aspects.

Euthanasia.

Assisted suicide--Social aspects.

Right to die--Social aspects.

Euthanasia--Social aspects.

Suicide, Assisted--ethics.

Politics.

Religion.

Right to Die--ethics.

Social Justice.

Social aspects.

United States.

Medical Subjects:

Suicide, Assisted--ethics.

Politics.

Religion.

Right to Die--ethics.

Social Justice.

United States.

Physical Description:

xiii, 336 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Notre Dame, Ind. : University of Notre Dame Press, [2007]

Summary:

In Liberalism's Troubled Search for Equality, Robert P. Jones presents a penetrating examination of physician-assisted suicide that exposes unresolved tensions deep within liberal political theory. Jones asks why egalitarian liberal philosophers--most notably, Ronald Dworkin and John Rawls--support legalized physician-assisted suicide in direct opposition to groups of disadvantaged citizens they theoretically champion. Jones argues that egalitarian liberals ought to oppose physician-assisted suicide--at least until we find the political will to ensure access to health care for all. More broadly, Jones challenges progressives to find the heart of the liberal tradition not in allegedly neutral appeals to "choice" but in a renewed commitment to equality and social justice that welcomes public religious voices as allies.

Contents:

Introduction : liberalism and moral vision

Physician-assisted suicide and Dworkin's equality of resources

Interlude : inequality and hardship in America

An idea whose time has come? the historical and legal context of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act

The social sources of physician-assisted suicide

The moral logics of physician-assisted suicide

Missing persons

Cultural bias

Physician-assisted suicide as an expensive taste : an egalitarian critique

Conclusion : toward an egalitarian liberalism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 308-324) and index.

ISBN:

9780268032678

026803267X

OCLC:

76967122