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Editorial

The Glum Reaper?

by Rick Lewis

Spring has sprung and little birdies are singing merrily in the trees, so we thought, what better time to have an issue of Philosophy Now focusing on Death and Morality? It’s not quite as daft as it sounds, for the contention of one of our contributors – and of an increasing number of other scientists and philosophers – is that the calendar of our lives can and should be halted in a kind of perpetual glorious summer. Medicine’s understanding of the aging process is advancing quickly. With growing understanding comes the growing prospect that we could tinker with that process. There have already been some very long-lived mice. Some (though by no means all) gerontologists think it will eventually be possible to stop or even reverse human aging.

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