Includes bibliographical references and index

Euthanasia and the search for a new societal paradigm. Euthanasia, genetics, reproductive technologies, and the search for a new societal paradigm -- Evolution of the euthanasia controversy. Should the grandparents die? : allocation of medical resources with an aging population ; The song of death : the lyrics of euthanasia ; "Death talk" in Canada : the Rodriguez case ; The definition of euthanasia : a paradoxical partnership ; Legalizing euthanasia : why now? ; Euthanasia by confusion ; Guidelines for legalized euthanasia in Canada : a proposal / Torsten O. Nielsen ; Guidelines for legalized euthanasia in Canada : a rejection of Nielsen's proposal ; Guidelines for legalized euthanasia in Canada : a response to Somerville's rejection / Torsten O. Nielsen ; Guidelines for legalizing euthanasia in Canada : a response to Nielsen's response ; Executing euthanasia : a review essay ; Why aren't physicians interested in the ethics and law of euthanasia? : a conference report -- Untreated pain and euthanasia. Pain and suffering at interfaces of medicine and law ; Ethics, law, and palliative treatment and care : the dying elderly person ; The relief of suffering : human rights and medicine ; Death of pain : pain, suffering, and ethics -- Respect for dying people and euthanasia. Death at a New York hospital / Engelbert L. Schucking ; Searching for the governing values, policies, and attitudes : commentary on Death at a New York hospital ; Human dignity and disease, disability, suffering : a philosophical contribution to the euthanasia and assisted suicide debate / Sylvia D. Stolberg ; Unpacking the concept of human dignity in human(e) death : comments on "Human dignity and disease, disability and suffering" ; Prothanasia : personal fulfilment and readiness to die / Constantine John Falliers ; Taming the tiger : reflections on "Prothanasia : personal fulfilment and readiness to die" ; Debating A gentle death : a review essay -- Euthanasia in the "public square." Euthanasia in the media : journalists' values, media ethics, and "public square" messages ; Euthanasia and the death penalty -- Ethical and legal "tools" in the euthanasia debate. Labels versus contents : variance between philosophy, psychiatry, and law in concepts governing decision-making ; Human rights and human ethics : health and health care

"Dealing with death is an issue as old as the human race, but Western societies have rejected euthanasia as a solution for over two thousand years. Why, then, are we considering legalizing it now, especially when we can do so much more than in the past to relieve suffering? In 'Death Talk', a passionate and wide-ranging enquiry into the euthanasia debate, Margaret Somerville argues that people who promote the legalization of euthanasia ignore, or deliberately confuse, the vast ethical, legal, and social differences between euthanasia and natural death. Permitting euthanasia, Somerville demonstrates, would cause irreparable harm to respect for human life and society." -- from the publisher

Issued also in electronic format