Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect
<p style="text-align:justify;"> Recent developments in biogerontology—the study of the biology of ageing—suggest that it may eventually be possible to intervene in the human ageing process. This, in turn, offers the prospect of significantly postponing the onset of age-related disea...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Springer
2013
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| _version_ | 1797068465651056640 |
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| author | Capitaine, L Devolder, K Pennings, G |
| author_facet | Capitaine, L Devolder, K Pennings, G |
| author_sort | Capitaine, L |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p style="text-align:justify;"> Recent developments in biogerontology—the study of the biology of ageing—suggest that it may eventually be possible to intervene in the human ageing process. This, in turn, offers the prospect of significantly postponing the onset of age-related diseases. The biogerontological project, however, has met with strong resistance, especially by deontologists. They consider the act of intervening in the ageing process impermissible on the grounds that it would (most probably) bring about an extended maximum lifespan—a state of affairs that they deem intrinsically bad. In a bid to convince their deontological opponents of the permissibility of this act, proponents of biogerontology invoke an argument which is grounded in the doctrine of double effect. Surprisingly, their argument, which we refer to as the ‘double effect argument’, has gone unnoticed. This article exposes and critically evaluates this ‘double effect argument’. To this end, we first review a series of excerpts from the ethical debate on biogerontology in order to substantiate the presence of double effect reasoning. Next, we attempt to determine the role that the ‘double effect argument’ is meant to fulfil within this debate. Finally, we assess whether the act of intervening in ageing actually can be justified using double effect reasoning. </p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:11:12Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:51dc6402-d767-4db0-b9fd-b20b54e187c6 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:11:12Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:51dc6402-d767-4db0-b9fd-b20b54e187c62022-03-26T16:22:10ZLifespan extension and the doctrine of double effectJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:51dc6402-d767-4db0-b9fd-b20b54e187c6Symplectic Elements at OxfordSpringer2013Capitaine, LDevolder, KPennings, G <p style="text-align:justify;"> Recent developments in biogerontology—the study of the biology of ageing—suggest that it may eventually be possible to intervene in the human ageing process. This, in turn, offers the prospect of significantly postponing the onset of age-related diseases. The biogerontological project, however, has met with strong resistance, especially by deontologists. They consider the act of intervening in the ageing process impermissible on the grounds that it would (most probably) bring about an extended maximum lifespan—a state of affairs that they deem intrinsically bad. In a bid to convince their deontological opponents of the permissibility of this act, proponents of biogerontology invoke an argument which is grounded in the doctrine of double effect. Surprisingly, their argument, which we refer to as the ‘double effect argument’, has gone unnoticed. This article exposes and critically evaluates this ‘double effect argument’. To this end, we first review a series of excerpts from the ethical debate on biogerontology in order to substantiate the presence of double effect reasoning. Next, we attempt to determine the role that the ‘double effect argument’ is meant to fulfil within this debate. Finally, we assess whether the act of intervening in ageing actually can be justified using double effect reasoning. </p> |
| spellingShingle | Capitaine, L Devolder, K Pennings, G Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect |
| title | Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect |
| title_full | Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect |
| title_fullStr | Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect |
| title_short | Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect |
| title_sort | lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT capitainel lifespanextensionandthedoctrineofdoubleeffect AT devolderk lifespanextensionandthedoctrineofdoubleeffect AT penningsg lifespanextensionandthedoctrineofdoubleeffect |