Aging And Ethics: Philosophical Problems in Gerontology (Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society) - Hardcover

Jecker, Nancy S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0896032019 ISBN 13: 9780896032019

Publisher: Humana, 1991

Synopsis

The Aging Self and the Aging Society Ethical issues involving the elderly have recently come to the fore. This should come as no surprise: Since the turn of the century, there has been an eightfold in­ crease in the number of Americans over the age of sixty­ five, and almost a tripling of their proportion to the general population. Those over the age of eighty-five-­ the fastest growing group in the country-are twenty­ one more times as numerous as in 1900. Demographers expect this trend to accelerate into the twenty-first century. The aging of society casts into vivid relief a num­ ber of deep and troubling questions. On the one hand, as individuals, we grapple with the immediate experience of aging and mortality and seek to find in it philosophical or ethical significance. We also wonder what responsi­ bilities we bear toward aging family members and what expectations of others our plans for old age can reasona­ bly include. On the other hand, as a community, we must decide: What special role, if any, do older persons occupy in our society? What constitutes a just distribution of medical resources between generations? And, How can institutions that serve the old foster imperiled values, such as autonomy, self-respect, and dignity? Only recently have we begun to explore these themes, yet already a rich and fruitful literature has grown up around them.

About this title

Review

A sound collection, including both classic and new work. It poses an excellent challenge to those setting out to rethink old age.-Ethics

Synopsis

Aging and Ethics explores the many ethical issues involving the elderly, their care, and their role in society - urgent concerns that have only recently come to the forefront. There are now eight times more Americans over the age of sixty-five than at the turn of this century; their proportion to the rest of the population has almost tripled. And this trend is expected to accelerate into the next century! This aging of society has raised an increasing number of deep and troubling questions: What are our responsibilities toward aging family members? What can we reasonably expect in our own old age? What special role (if any) do older persons play in our society? How can medical resources be distributed justly between generations? How can institutions that serve the elderly preserve values such as autonomy, self-respect, and dignity? Nancy Jecker's timely new volume deals with these and other issues on four levels: the aging individual; aging and filial responsibility; distributive justice in an aging society; and philosophical reflections on aging and death.

Aging and Ethics is must reading for professionals in a variety of health-related and counseling fields, as well as for the growing number of concerned laypeople who need to better understand the often compelling issues associated with aging today.

Edition details

• Publisher: Humana
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0896032019
• ISBN 13: 9780896032019
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 405