3rd Edition
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides? Abortion, Assisted Dying, Capital Punishment, and Torture
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides? looks at several of the most contentious issues in many societies. The book asks, whose rights are protected? How do these rights and protections change over time, and who makes those decisions? This book explores the fundamentally sociological processes which underlie the quest for morality and justice in human societies. The author sheds light on the social movements and social processes at the root of these seemingly personal moral questions. The third edition contains a new chapter on torture entitled, "Taking Life and Inflicting Suffering."
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Detailed Contents
Preface to the Third Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 A Single Question
PART I: A Moral System Evolves
Chapter 2 An Exclusionary Movement is Born
Chapter 3 Legal Reform to Eliminate Defectives
Chapter 4 Redrawing the Boundaries of Protected Life
Chapter 5 Crystallizing Events and Ethical Principles
PART II: The Early Moments and Months of Life
Chapter 6 A Bolt from the Blue: Abortion is Legalized
Chapter 7 Man’s Law or God’s Will
Chapter 8 Inches from Life
Chapter 9 Should the Baby Live?
PART III: The Boundaries of Tolerable Suffering
Chapter 10 Limits to Tolerable Suffering
Chapter 11 Alleviating Suffering and Protecting Life
Chapter 12 God, Duty, and Life Worth Living
Chapter 13 Assisted Dying
PART IV: Taking Life and Inflicting Suffering
Chapter 14 Removing the Protective Boundaries of Life
Chapter 15 A Campaign to Stop the Executions
Chapter 16 The Pendulum Swings, the Debate Continues
Chapter 17 Justifying Torture
Chapter 18 Lessons Learned
Index
Biography
Sheldon Ekland-Olson joined the University of Texas at Austin after completing his graduate work at the University of Washington in Seattle and Yale Law School. He is currently the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts and serving as the Director of the School of Human Ecology. For 5 years, he served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and then for 8 years as Executive Vice President and Provost of the university. He has authored or co-authored several books and numerous articles on criminal justice, prison reform, and capital punishment. Widely recognized for his commitment to teaching undergraduates, he is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. His current interests are reflected in the book, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?: An exploration of how communities have gone about justifying the violation of universally held moral imperatives.
