Dying in the Twenty-First Century: Toward a New Ethical Framework for the Art of Dying Well (Basic Bioethics)

Physicians, philosophers, and theologians consider how to address death and dying for a diverse population in a secularized century. Most of us are generally ill-equipped for dying. Today, we neither see death nor prepare for it. But this has not always been the case. In the early fifteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church published the Ars moriendi texts, which established prayers and practices for an art of dying. In the twenty-first century, physicians rely on procedures and protocols for the efficient management of hospitalized patients. How can we recapture an art of dying that can facilitate our dying well? In this book, physicians, philosophers, and theologians attempt to articulate a bioethical framework for dying well in a secularized, diverse society. Contributors discuss such topics as the acceptance of human finitude; the role of hospice and palliative medicine; spiritual preparation for death; and the relationship between community, and individual autonomy. They also consider special cases, including children, elderly patients with dementia, and death in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, when doctors could do little more than accompany their patients in humble solidarity. These chapters make the case for a robust bioethics -- one that could foster both the contemplation of finitude and the cultivation of community that would be necessary for a contemporary art of dying well. Contributors Jeffrey P. Bishop, Lisa Sowle Cahill, Daniel Callahan, Farr A. Curlin, Lydia S. Dugdale, Michelle Harrington, John Lantos, Stephen R. Latham, M. Therese Lysaught, Autumn Alcott Ridenour, Peter A. Selwyn, Daniel Sulmasy Most of us are generally ill-equipped for dying. Today, we neither see death nor prepare for it. But this has not always been the case. In the early fifteenth century, the Catholic Church published the Ars moriendi texts, which established prayers and practices for an art of dying. In the twenty-first century, physicians rely on procedures and protocols for the efficient management of hospitalized patients. How might we recapture an art of dying that facilitates our dying well? In this book, physicians, philosophers, and theologians attempt to articulate a bioethical framework for dying well in a secularized, diverse society. Contributors discuss such topics as the acceptance of human finitude; the role of hospice and palliative medicine; spiritual preparation for death; and the relationship between community and individual autonomy. They also consider special cases, including children, elderly patients with dementia, and those suffering from AIDS in the early years of the epidemic, when doctors could do little more than accompany their patients in humble solidarity. These chapters make the case that only a robust bioethics—one that could foster both the contemplation of finitude and the cultivation of community-could bring about a modern art of dying well Most of us are generally ill-equipped for dying. Today, we neither see death nor prepare for it. But this has not always been the case. In the early 15th century, the Catholic Church published the Ars moriendi texts, which established prayers and practices for an art of dying. In the 21st century, physicians rely on procedures and protocols for the efficient management of hospitalized patients. How might we recapture an art of dying that facilitates our dying well? In this book, physicians, philosophers, and theologians attempt to articulate a bioethical framework for dying well in a secularized, diverse society Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 1 Dying, a Lost Art 16 2 Finitude 32 3 Pluralism and the “Good” Death 46 4 Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s Attempt at an Art of Dying 60 5 Ritual and Practice 80 6 Spiritual Preparation 100 7 The Role of Community 120 8 Children 146 9 The Elderly and Dementia 162 10 AIDS, the Modern Plague 174 Conclusion: Toward a New Ethical Framework for the Art of Dying Well 186 List of Contributors 206 Index 214