Life extension, overpopulation and the right to life: against lethal ethics

• Published in: Journal of medical ethics Vol. 34; no. 9; p. e7
• Main Author: Cutas, D E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics 01.09.2008; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Age Factors; Bioethics; Ethics, Medical; Filosofi; Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi; Humans; lethal ethics; Life Expectancy; life extension; Moral Obligations; Older people; Overpopulation; Philosophy; Population Density; Practical Philosophy; praktisk filosofi; Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology; right to reproduce; Social Justice - ethics; Stem cells; Value of Life
• ISSN: 0306-6800; 1473-4257; 1473-4257
• DOI: 10.1136/jme.2007.023622

Some of the objections to life-extension stem from a concern with overpopulation. I will show that whether or not the overpopulation threat is realistic, arguments from overpopulation cannot ethically demand halting the quest for, nor access to, life-extension. The reason for this is that we have a right to life, which entitles us not to have meaningful life denied to us against our will and which does not allow discrimination solely on the grounds of age. If the threat of overpopulation creates a rights conflict between the right to come into existence, the right to reproduce, the right to more opportunities and space (if, indeed, these rights can be successfully defended), and the right to life, the latter ought to be given precedence.