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A review and new look at ethical suicide in advanced age
1Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106.
The Gerontologist
|June 1, 1993
Abstract:
Suicide is common in old age, but public opinion remains negative. Following a review of theories of suicide and a summary of arguments against suicide, this essay constructs an argument for why the elderly have a unique claim to an ethical, unobstructed suicide. That claim rests on their "developmental autonomy," based on the experience and wisdom of the elderly.