Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T00:28:04.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Infanticide and Geronticide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Stephen G. Post
Stephen G. Post
Affiliation:
Center for Biomedical Ethics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This essay considers recent ethical literatures on the question of the direct killing of newborns and of the severely demented elderly. At various points, the arguments in these literatures are brought together for comparison and contrast. Finally, a constructive argument against infanticide and geronticide is developed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , September 1990 , pp. 317 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barash, D. P. 1984. Aging: An Exploration. University of Washington Press, Seattle.Google Scholar
Becker, J. T. et al. 1988. Neuropsychological function in Alzheimer's disease: patterns of impairment and rates of progression. Archives of Neurology, 45, 263–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bettelheim, B. 1976. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. Knopf, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boswell, J. 1989. The Kindness of Strangers. Pantheon, New York.Google Scholar
Cassirer, E. 1944. An Essay on Man. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Dopple, R. L. and Hutton, J. T. (eds) 1988. Caring for the Alzheimer's Patient: A Practical Guide. Prometheus Books, Buffalo.Google Scholar
Durkheim, E. 1965. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Gert, B. 1966. The Moral Rules. Harper, New York.Google Scholar
Green, R. M. 1988. Religion and Moral Reason: A New Method for Comparative Study. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hay, J. W. and Ernst, R. L. 1987. The economic costs of Alzheimer's disease. American Journal of Public Health, 77, 1169–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuhse, H. 1987. The Sanctity-of-Life Doctrine in Medicine. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Lebra, T. S. 1976. Japan: Patterns of Behavior. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lecky, W. E. H. 1955. History of European Morals: From Augustus to Charlemagne. George Braziller, New York.Google Scholar
MacIntyre, A. 1988. Whose Justice? Which Rationality? University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame.Google Scholar
Maletta, G. J. 1985. ‘Medications to modify at-home behavior of Alzheimer's patients. Ceriatrics, 40, 31–42.Google ScholarPubMed
Moody, H. R. 1985. ‘The ethics of suicide in old age. In Lesnoff-Caravaglia, (ed) Values, Ethics, and Aging. Human Sciences Press, New York.Google Scholar
Motokiyo, Z. 1977. ‘The Deserted Crone’ in Masterpieces of the Orient. W. W. Norton, New York.Google Scholar
Nietzsche, F. 1968. Twilight of the Idols. Penguin, New York.Google Scholar
Plum, F. 1979. Dementia: an approaching epidemic. Nature, 279, 372–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Post, S. G. 1988. ‘History, infanticide, and imperiled newborns. Hastings Center Report, 18 (4), 14–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachels, J. 1986. The End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Shewman, D. A., Capron, A. M. et al. 1989. The use of anencephalic infants as organ sources: a critique. Journal of the American Medical Association, 261, 1773–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, L. E. 1988. Noise, nakedness, flood, and fire. Second Opinion: Health, Faith, and Ethics, 4, 68–91.Google Scholar
Tooley, M. 1983. Abortion and Infanticide. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar