Abstract

The time may not be far away where we may be able to live much longer than we do now – potentially forever. This will have an enormous impact on the way people live their lives as the underlying premise that life is finite underpins many of the central decisions and life choices we make. This paper outlines some philosophical and legal doctrines that are based on the premise that life is finite and some of the changes that may need to occur in light of medical advances in ageing. In particular, it focuses on the changes to sentencing law that may be necessary to accommodate increased human longevity. For the skeptics who refuse to accept the concept of immortality, the arguments presented do not depend on living forever. Some of the issues discussed here are also relevant, albeit in an attenuated manner, because of increases in human longevity that have occurred in the last 100 years.Babies born 30 years hence may grow up with such perfect cellular maintenance that they will never age, dying only by accident or choice. Will we get the benefits of these discoveries? Maybe not – we might be, sadly, the last mortal generation. But who knows – if we can keep ourselves alive and healthy, maybe some of these treatments will be retrofitted into our ailing bodies and make us new again.... If you are lucky you may see 3000, or even live indefinitely. We need to discuss, well ahead of time, whether that would be desirable. Me, I’m voting for life over death.