In the Arms of Others: A Cultural History of the Right to Die in America - Hardcover

Filene, Peter G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1566631882 ISBN 13: 9781566631884

Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc, 1998

Synopsis

Mr. Filene takes the reader into the lives and feelings of people who have struggled with the predicament of modern dying. By personalizing this social and cultural issue, he illuminates the difficult and often harsh decisions involved. Beginning with the nineteenth-century background and the rise of medical technology, Mr. Filene moves quickly to the landmark case of Karen Ann Quinlan, who became in the 1970s the macabre protagonist of a melodrama that crystallized the nation's consciousness and produced a legal benchmark. In navigating the maze of bioethical arguments surrounding this and succeeding cases, the author guides readers through complex questions with remarkable lucidity. Ultimately, Mr. Filene argues, we must acknowledge that traditional American self-determination is not sufficient to resolve terrible questions of life and death. He suggests, first, that terminal patients must have greater access to "reassurance or morphine": and second, that we can finally exercise our autonomy only with the help of others.

About this title

Review:

A unique and valuable contribution.--Callahan, Daniel

Vibrant and piercingly detailed.--Henry R. Glick "Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences "

A unique and valuable contribution.--Daniel Callahan, cofounder and President Emeritus, The Hastings Center

Peter Filene's analysis should be read by anyone who wishes a deeper understanding of what is at stake in our current cultural debate about medicineis proper role at the end of life.--Timothy E. Quill

A terrifically well-written narrative...Filene has a gift for bringing legal and ethical arguments vividly to life.--David Barnard, Ph.D., New England Journal of Medicine

Clarifying and helpful...follows the escalating concern about death and dying in American society since the 1960s, and the unfolding concept of the 'right to die.'--Renee C. Fox, Annenberg Professor of the Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, and author of distinguished books in the sociology of me

Engaging narrative...difficult to put down and has given me new insights into our peculiarly American way.--Linda Ganzini, MD, JAMA

About the Author:

Peter Filene is professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His other books include Home and Away (a novel) and Him/Her/Self, a celebrated history of gender identities.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1566631882
• ISBN 13: 9781566631884
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 282