by Arthur Rifkin

About the author: Arthur Rifkin is a professor of psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York.

Physician-assisted suicide in a concrete fashion forces us to consider and act on what we consider ultimate. It not only makes us question whether someone should commit suicide, but whether another person should help.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology

Do we “play God” when we seek to end life? The typical instance concerns someone terminally ill who considers life meaningless because of pain and mental and physical impediments. Technology, as in many areas, creates advantages and disadvantages. We live longer and more comfortably because of medical advances, such as renal dialysis, organ transplantations, joint replacement, and antidepressants. But technology, as well, can simply prolong dying. Where pneumonia, “the old man...