Law and Philosophy 7 (1):3 - 33 (1988)
Abstract |
In wrongful life litigation a congenitally impaired child brings suit against those, usually physicians, whose negligence caused him to be born into his suffering existence. A key conceptual question is whether we can predicate harm in such cases. While a few courts have permitted it, many courts deny that we can, and thus have refused these children standing to sue. In this article the author examines the wrongful life cases and literature enroute to a broader consideration of harm. This literature, and philosophical discussions of harm generally, rely on a definition which ascribes harm by comparing an individual's current condition with that in which he would otherwise have been, but for the allegedly harmful event. The author shows this definition to be conceptually and morally flawed. A superior general definition is offered which, when then applied to wrongful life cases, shows that we can easily ascribe harm in these cases and can find clear potential for tort liability.
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1007/BF00149707 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
The Paradox of Future Individuals.Gregory S. Kavka - 1982 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 11 (2):93-112.
Obligations to Posterity.Thomas Schwartz - 1978 - In Richard I. Sikora & Brian M. Barry (eds.), Obligations to Future Generations. White Horse Press. pp. 3--3.
Citations of this work BETA
Directed Organ Donation: Discrimination or Autonomy?Guido Pennings - 2007 - Journal of Applied Philosophy 24 (1):41–49.
The Rights of Future Persons Under Attack: Correlativity in the Non-Identity Problem.Andre Campos - 2019 - Philosophia 47 (3):625-648.
Does the Rejection of Wrongful Life Claims Rely on a Conceptual Error?P. M. Muriithi - 2011 - Journal of Medical Ethics 37 (7):433-436.
Similar books and articles
The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law: Offense to Others.Joel Feinberg - 1984 - Oxford University Press.
The Ascription of Rights in Wrongful Life Suits.Nancy S. Jecker - 1987 - Law and Philosophy 6 (2):149-165.
What is Wrong with 'Wrongful Life' Cases?Barry M. Loewer - 1985 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 10 (2):127-146.
What is the Wrong of Wrongful Disability? From Chance to Choice to Harms to Persons.M. A. Roberts - 2009 - Law and Philosophy 28 (1):1 - 57.
Rethinking Procreation: Why It Matters Why We Have Children.Mianna Lotz - 2011 - Journal of Applied Philosophy 28 (2):105-121.
Wrongful Life, Wrongful Disability, and the Argument Against Cloning.David K. Chan - 2007 - Journal of Philosophical Research 32 (Supplement):257-272.
When Is Birth Unfair to the Child?Bonnie Steinbock & Ron McClamrock - 1994 - Hastings Center Report 24 (6):15-21.
Conception and the Concept of Harm.E. Haavi Morreim - 1983 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 8 (2):137-158.
The Moral Status of Enabling Harm.Samuel C. Rickless - 2011 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 92 (1):66-86.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
65 ( #174,489 of 2,499,248 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #418,195 of 2,499,248 )
2009-01-28
Total views
65 ( #174,489 of 2,499,248 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #418,195 of 2,499,248 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads