Series Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Part One
1. Choice and Death 3
Biological death 4
Human death 4
The good death 6
Defining death 7
The Harvard definition of brain death 9
The brain 12
Defining death: selective non-treatment
of severely disabled newborns 14
2. Stark Choices 23
Conceptual distinctions 24 The slippery slope 32
Voluntary/involuntary, active/
passive euthanasia 33
For and against euthanasia 34
Resource allocation choices 37
Two examples of decision procedures 39
The individual and the state 41
The man on the bridge 42
A liberal society 45
Part Two
3 Death and Dying in America 51
The Philosophers' Brief 52
The right to die 58
Legal milestones 61
The Oregon Death with Dignity Act 64
The state and the individual revisited 67
4 Legal Disputes over Death in England 80
The Devlin doctrine 80
The Tony Bland case 82
Killing and letting die revisited 85
Euthanasia in 1994 and 2004 88
The Diane Pretty case 89
5 Legalizing Euthanasia in The Netherlands 95
The Dutch scene 95
Early euthanasia cases 97
The Rotterdam criteria 99
The Dutch definition of euthanasia 99
The Remmelink reports 101
6 A Legislative Experiment in Australia 114
Withdrawal treatment - John McEwan
to Mrs. V 115
Suicide, assisted suicide and voluntary
euthanasia 118 Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted
suicide 120
The Northern Territory experiment 124
The Nancy Crick case 2002 129

Conclusion 135

References 143
Further reading 151
Index 157