The Ethics of Death: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives in Dialogue

For the living, death has a moral dimension. When we confront death and dying in our own lives and in the lives of others, we ask questions aboutthe good, right, and fitting as they relate to our experiences of human mortality. When others die, the living are left with moral questionsquestions that often generate personal inquiry as to whether a particular death was good or whether it was tragic, terrifying, or peaceful.

InThe Ethics of Death,the authors, one a philosopher and one a religious studies scholar, undertake an examination of the deaths that we experience as members of a larger moral community. Their respectful and engaging dialogue highlights the complex and challenging issues that surround many deaths in our modern world and helps readers frame thoughtful responses.

Unafraid of difficult topics, Steffen and Cooley fully engage suicide, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion, and war as areas of life where death poses moral challenges.

Dennis R. Cooley is professor of philosophy and ethics and associate director of the Northern Plains Ethics Institute at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. He writes widely on issues of applied ethics in a range of fields.

Lloyd Steffen is professor of religion studies, university chaplain, and director of both the Dialogue Center and the Prison Project at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous titles includingHoly War, Just War: Exploring the Moral Meaning ofReligiousViolence(2007) andEthics and Experience: Moral Theory from Just War to Abortion(2012).