Health in the Name of Justice: Does Justice Require a Right to Health
Upholding and seeking justice in society has been important for philosophers and religious thinkers throughout the ages. Debates of different conceptions of justice have ranged from Plato’s conception of the just individual, to Aristotle’s just community where individuals receive what is owed to them according to their merit, to Kant’s claim that justice concerns the “… exercise of will among people; and it is concerned with the possibility and freedom of the exercise of will …” (Hudson, 2003, p. 11). Interpretations of justice and the value of justice in society vary. Fundamentally, however, theories of justice are concerned with answering the question, what do we as a society owe each other by determining the set of rights that are inalienable and vital for a just society to protect. Theories of justice hope to inform us of the rights that are essential for society to defend and uphold. The ever increasing amount of medical knowledge and sophisticated medical treatments now available raise questions of social justice in health and has prompted many to argue whether or not there is a right to health. As Charles Fried (1976) explained over thirty years ago, extending certain medical treatments to the poor seemed possible and inevitable during a period when certain medical advances in treating illness and disease, such as the introduction of antibiotics and vaccines, made a huge difference to the health of the population. He claims that in this “ ‘Golden Age’ we could unambiguously afford a notion of a general right to medical care because there were a number of clear successes available to medicine, and these successes were not unduly costly” (p. 29-30). However, as Fried recognised in the 1970s, and is even truer today with the costs associated with chronic illnesses, extending universal medical care to all in society in cases where treatment is expensive and marginally beneficial is problematic at best.
Justice and Democracy: Essays for Brian Barry
1. Introduction: between justice and democracy Keith Dowding, Robert E. Goodin and Carole Pateman 2. Are democratic and just institutions the same? Keith Dowding 3. Democracy is not intrinsically just Richard Arneson 4. 'The probability of a fit choice': US political history and voting theory Norman Schofield 5. Contractarian theory, deliberative democracy and general agreement Albert Weale 6. Democracy, justice and impartiality Robert E. Goodin 7 Mimicking impartiality Jon Elster 8. Justice, democracy and public goods David Miller 9. The common good Philip Pettit 10. Individual choice and social exclusion Julian LeGrand 11. Sub-national groups and globalization Russell Hardin.
Death and Deliverance: "Euthanasia" in Germany c. 1900-1945.
List of illustrations Introduction and acknowledgements Part I. Saving Money, Spending Lives: 1. Winter landscapes: psychiatric reform and retrenchment during the Weimar Republic 2. Hope and hard times: asylums in the 1930s Part II. Gods in White Coats: 3. 'Wheels must roll for victory'!: children's euthanasia and 'aktion T-4' 4. 'The psychopaths' club' 5. 'Gentlemen's agreements' Responses to the 'euthanasia' programe Part III. Euthanasia and Racial Warfare: 6. Selling murder: the killing films of the Third Reich 7. Evil empires: from 'Aktion 14f13' to Trieste 8. Medieval or modern? 'Euthanasia' programmes 1941-1945 Part IV. Aftermaths: 9. How Professor Heyde became Dr Sawade 10. Singer Australian academic jets in bearing old message to be denied the right to speak by German 'alternative' fascists? Notes Bibliography Index.