We live at a time when the human lifespan has increased like never
before. As average lifespans stretch to new lengths, what impact
should this have on our values? Should our values change over the
course of our ever-increasing lifespans? Nancy S. Jecker coins the
term, the life stage relativity of values, to capture the idea that
at different stages of our lives, different ethical concerns shift
to the foreground. During early life, infants and small children
hold dear the value of being cared for and nurtured by someone they
trust-and their vulnerability and dependency make these the right
values for them. By early adulthood and continuing into midlife,
the capacity for greater physical and emotional independence gives
people reason to place more emphasis on autonomy and the ability to
freely choose and carry out their plan of life. During old age,
heightened risk for chronic disease and disability gives us a
reason to shift our focus again, emphasizing safeguarding our
central capabilities and keeping our dignity and self-respect
intact. Despite different values becoming central at different
stages of life, we often assume the standpoint of someone in
midlife, who is in the midst of planning a future adulthood that
stretches out before them. Jecker coins the term, midlife bias, to
refer to the privileging of midlife. Midlife bias occurs when we
assume that autonomy should be our central aim at all life stages
and give it priority in a wide range of ethical decisions. The
privileging of midlife raises fundamental problems of fairness. It
also suggests the possibility of large gaps in the ethical
principles and theories at hand. Ending Midlife Bias: New Values
for Old Age addresses these concerns in a step-wise fashion,
focusing on later life. Jecker first introduces a philosophical
framework that extends moral theorizing to older adults, addressing
midlife bias, the life stage relativity of values, human
capabilities and dignity, time's passage, the narrative self, and
justice between old and young. She then turns to policy and
practice and explores ethical issues in bioethics, long term care,
personal robotic assistants, care of the dying and newly dead,
ageism in medical research, the allocation of healthcare, mandatory
retirement, and the future of population aging.
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