This dissertation is a study of recent court decisions which have held that persons possess a fundamental right of autonomous decision-making in the matters of abortion and refusal or termination of treatment for certain conditions. The courts have held that even persons who are incompetent to form their own decisions possess this protected right of decision-making, and they have held several contradictory views as to who should form this decision in their place. This dissertation examines the court cases, the nature (...) of the decision to be made, and the various forums proposed as the locus of decision-making authority and determines that the only appropriate forum is the primary moral community of the incompetent person for whom the decision is being made. (shrink)

"'Religion' as James remarks in a letter of 1897 'is the great interest of my life.'". In the early chapters of this fresh, healthy study of James's thinking about the realm of the religious, O'Connell gathers evidence from James's essays and letters as well as the testimonial evidence in Ralph Barton Perry's biography to argue that despite his early training in physiology and medicine, James viewed his fundamental task as the interpretation of such notions as "courage," "strenuous mood," "wager of (...) belief," and the "passional side of thought." Yet O'Connell's work surpasses intellectual history and offers a truly philosophical conversation. (shrink)