On developing a geriatric ethic: personhood in the thought of Stanley Hauerwas

Those who provide health care for the elderly are being confronted by a variety of ethical problems, including paternalism, withdrawal of life-support systems, and allocation of scarce resources. Discussion surrounding these issues lacks persuasive power because it lacks an appropriate theoretical grounding. This paper grounds geriatric ethics in the theory of the person described by Stanley Hauerwas. It shows that Hauerwas' emphasis on the attributes of temporality, sociality, and limitation is both consistent with the conclusions of gerontologists, and fruitful for developing specific ethical guidelines. Three ethical principles--continuity, interdependence, and normality--provide a framework from which to begin to resolve ethical problems in geriatrics.