What should we think about assisted dying?
A new Bill proposes to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill patients in England and Wales. Many difficult philosophical, moral, legal and social questions are raised by end-of-life legislation. Do people have a right to die? Is suicide ethically permissible? Can we create laws that protect the vulnerable from being pressured into ending their lives? Should psychological as well as physical illnesses be covered by right-to-die laws? How do such laws work in other countries? Join us to ask influential legal, philosophical and religious commentators what they think.
Meet our speakers and chair
Emily Jackson, first joined LSE in 1998. After graduating from Oxford University, she worked as a research officer at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in Oxford. Her first teaching position was at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, and she has also taught at Birkbeck College and Queen Mary, University of London. Emily’s research interests are in the field of medical law. She has served as a member of the British Medical Association Medical Ethics Committee (2005-2022), Deputy Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2008-2012) and a Judicial Appointments Commissioner (2014-2017). She is a Fellow of the British Academy, and in 2017 was awarded an OBE for services to higher education.
Alex Voorhoeve is Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at LSE. He studied economics and philosophy at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Cambridge University, and UCL. He joined LSE in 2004 and has worked here ever since, though he has held visiting positions at Harvard (2008-09), Princeton (2012-13) and the National Institutes of Health, U.S. (2016-17). His research covers decision theory, moral psychology, and the theory and practice of fair distribution, with particular application to the allocation of resources for health. He has served on the WHO Consultative Committee on Equity and Universal Health Coverage.
Lewis Ross is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Scientific Method at LSE. He has broad philosophical interests, but much of his work concerns where epistemology connects to questions about ethics, law and politics.
More about this event
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