What makes killing wrong?: and why it matters

Abstract

What makes an act of killing morally wrong is not that the act causes loss of life or consciousness but rather that the act causes loss of all remaining abilities. This account implies that it is not even pro tanto morally wrong to kill patients who are universally and irreversibly disabled, because they have no abilities to lose. Applied to vital organ transplantation, this account undermines the dead donor rule and shows how current practices are compatible with morality.

General Notes

Tuesday, October 9, 2012; noon to 1 p.m.; Room D1.602. "What Makes Killing Wrong? And Why It Matters". Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Ph.D., Chauncey Stillman Professor of Practical Ethics, Department of Philosophy & Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University, Durham, NC.

Table of Contents

Subjects

Grand Rounds, Brain Death, Disabled Persons, Homicide, Teaching Rounds, Tissue and Organ Harvesting, Value of Life

Citation

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