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Ethical Episodes

Advance Directive

by Joel Marks

I don’t think I am more preoccupied with death and dying than the average soul, but a certain low-grade anxiety does permeate my psyche on account of two morbid eventualities: species extinction by asteroid and meeting my personal demise in a hospital ward. Having discussed the former in Issues 79 and 86, I will herein take up the latter. ‘Advance directives’ or ‘living wills’ regarding end-of-life care are increasingly popular, and mine is unequivocal: I do not want to linger in a state of helplessness. The more chilling prospect is for the lingering to be conscious, but even if I were to be unconscious, the lingering would seem worse than pointless since it would reduce my personal financial legacy and squander social resources that could be better utilized elsewhere.

While I know that many share my intuition about these matters, the fact remains that no country on Earth unambiguously sanctions the sort of death I would desire under these circumstances.

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