Physician-Assisted Death is the eleventh volume of Biomedical Ethics
Reviews. We, the editors, are pleased with the response to the series
over the years and, as a result, are happy to continue into a second
decade with the same general purpose and zeal. As in the past,
contributors to projected volumes have been asked to summarize the
nature of the literature, the prevailing attitudes and arguments, and
then to advance the discussion in some way by staking out and arguing
forcefully for some basic position on the topic targeted for discussion.
For the present volume on Physician-Assisted Death, we felt it wise to
enlist the services of a guest editor, Dr. Gregg A. Kasting, a
practicing physician with extensive clinical knowledge of the various
problems and issues encountered in discussing physician- assisted death.
Dr. Kasting is also our student and just completing a graduate degree in
philosophy with a specialty in biomedical ethics here at Georgia State
University. Apart from a keen interest in the topic, Dr. Kasting has
published good work in the area and has, in our opinion, done an
excellent job in taking on the lion's share of editing this
well-balanced and probing set of essays. We hope you will agree that
this volume significantly advances the level of discussion on
physician-assisted euthanasia. Incidentally, we wish to note that the
essays in this volume were all finished and committed to press by
January 1993.
