Equality, Justice, and Paternalism: Recentreing Debate about Physician-Assisted Suicide

abstract   Debate about physician-assisted suicide has typically focused on the values of autonomy and patient wellbeing. This is understandable, even reasonable, given the import-ance of these values in bioethics. However, these are not the only moral values there are. The purpose of this paper is to examine physician-assisted suicide on the basis of the values of equality and justice. In particular, I will evaluate two arguments that invoke equality, one in favour of physician-assisted suicide, one against it, and I will eventually argue that a convincing equality-based argument in support of physician-assisted suicide is available. I will conclude by showing how an equality-based perspective transforms some secondary features of debate about this issue.     

Nozick on Self-esteem

ABSTRACT This paper considers Robert Nozick's account of self-esteem, as presented in Anarchy, State, and Utopia. I criticise three aspects of it. First, the claim that people gain self-esteem only when they believe that they possess greater quantities than others of some valued talent or attribute. Secondly, the view that there will always be a conflict of interests between people over the acquisition of self-esteem. Thirdly, the proposal that the most promising way to improve levels of self-esteem across a society is to educate people so that they value a number of different activities and attributes. I argue against Nozick that there are non-comparative standards of doing something well or successfully that provide a person with a means of self-assessment; there is no necessary conflict of interests over the acquisition of self-esteem; reforming basic social and economic institutions is a promising way for a society to increase levels of self-esteem.