Health, Luck, and Justice (ebook)

Argumento de Health, Luck, and Justice (ebook)

"Segall ably defends why she thinks luck egalitarian theory, with important modifications to prevent the total abandonment of patients, provides a better solution for problems in health care allocation than other theories of justice do. This important, thought-provoking book is distinctive in defending the claim that so-called enhancement technologies should be made available to some as a matter of justice."--Choice

"His view that luck egalitarians should be concerned only with inequalities is at least plausible. Like many other arguments in this significant contribution to the egalitarian literature, it is certain to spark considerable debate."--Kristi A. Olson, Perspectives on Politics

"Segall raises the standard for the burgeoning philosophical discussions on health and social justice and gives us much novel material for further consideration. Graduate students and academics interested in political philosophy and health ethics will find this book interesting and a rich resource. It is clearly written, rigorously argued, and thoroughly engaged with relevant literature."--Sridhar Venkatapuram, Sociology of Health & Illness

"This is a thought-provoking volume deserving of a wide readership among academics and health professionals and health policy analysts who must struggle with the challenges of trying to create a more just health care system that gives due regard to issues of personal responsibility for one's own health status and costs that might be imposed on social budgets."--Leonard M. Fleck, Notre Dame Philosophical Review

"Although I approached the book with a broadly similar . . . stance to Segall's, I found the arguments took many unexpected turns, though never in a way so as to leave me lost. Any political philosopher or bioethicist will come away from the book knowing much more about both luck egalitarianism and philosophical approaches to health and healthcare."--Carl Knight, Iyyun

"Whether the ethical solution is (or can be) implemented on the national or transnational, or state or local levels, remains to be seen, but this book is an interesting first step."--Elizabeth Ann Danto, European Legacy

"As the first serious attempt to apply the luck egalitarian approach to health and justice, this book will be widely read. It is lucid, well argued, rigorous, and analytic."--Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD

"In this very welcome book, Shlomi Segall makes a notable contribution to the very small number of serious attempts to provide a basis within a theory of justice for claims on social resources for health. Theoretically sophisticated and morally serious, Segall's book maintains a high scholarly standard. Health, Luck, and Justice should be read by philosophers, bioethicists, economists, and other social scientists concerned with the ethics of health policy."--Daniel Wikler, Harvard University

"[A]mbitious, rich, and challenging. . . . It is bound to provoke much more extensive discussion."--Daniel M. Hausman, Economics and Philosophy

"Segall's book is an important contribution to the discussion of justice in health care which shows how far theories of justice, especially a luck egalitarian approach can deal with the normative problems we face in this context. But it is also important in showing the limits of theories of justice when we think about the value of health in our overall scheme of good lives and human flourishing."--Michael Quante, Medicine Health Care and Philosophy0Preface iv
Introduction 1

Chapter 1: Justice, Luck, and Equality 9
I. Rawlsian vs. Luck Egalitarian Justice 10
II. Inequality vs. Equality 14
III. Reasonable Avoidability vs. Responsibility 19

Part I Health Care 27

Chapter 2: Responsibility- Insensitive Health Care 29
I. The Fair Opportunity Account 30
II. Opportunities and Life Plans 34
III. Th e Democratic Equality Account 37

Chapter 3: Ultra- Responsibility- Sensitive Health Care: "All- Luck Egalitarianism" 45
I. A Test Case: Justifying Medical Treatment for Smoking- Related Diseases 46
II. Some Preliminary Problems with All- Luck Egalitarianism 48
III. What's Wrong with Neutralizing Luck as Such? 51
IV. All- Luck Egalitarianism, Moral Luck, and Desert 54

Chapter 4: Tough Luck? Why Luck Egalitarians Need
Not Abandon Reckless Patients 58
I. Luck Egalitarian Attempts to Defl ect the Abandonment Objection 59
II. Value Pluralism 64
III. Three Objections to Luck Egalitarian Value Pluralism 66
IV. A Potential Solution? 68

Chapter 5: Responsibility- Sensitive Universal Health Care 74
I. Meeting Basic Needs 75
II. Health Care as a Public Good 78
III. Some Counter- Objections and Clarifi cations 80
IV. In- Kind Health Care 83

Part II: Health 87

Chapter 6: Why Justice in Health? 89
I. Is Health Care (Still) Special? 89
II. Why a Separate Th eory of Justice in Health? 92

Chapter 7: Luck Egalitarian Justice in Health 98
I. Rawlsian vs. Luck Egalitarian Justice in Health 99
II. Two Problems with Fair Equality of Opportunity for Health 101
III. Health Inequalities between the Sexes Revisited 105

Chapter 8: Equality or Priority in Health? 111
I. The Value of Equality in Health 112
II. Some Potential Objections and Qualifi cations 115
III. Luck Prioritarian Justice in Health 118

Chapter 9: Distributing Human Enhancements 121
I. What Is Human Enhancement? 122
II. The Treatment vs. Enhancement Distinction 124
III. "Fair" Skin and Other Potential Objections 130
IV. Equality or Priority in Enhancement? 133

Part III: Health without Borders 137

Chapter 10: Devolution of Health Care Services 139
I. The Case for Devolution 141
II. How Devolution Upsets Distributive Justice 143
III. Ignoring Cultural Preferences in Health Care 144
IV. How Devolution Weakens Social Solidarity 148
V. Imposing a Uniform Pattern of Consumption 150

Chapter 11: Global Justice and National Responsibility for Health 153
I. Justice, Responsibility, and Double Standards 155
II. "The Health of Nations" and the Global Economic Order 158
III. Holding Nations Responsible for Th eir Health 160
IV. National Responsibility and Future Generations 162
V. Equality or Suffi ciency in Global Health? 165
VI. Intergalactic Egalitarianism 168

Conclusion 171
Notes 175
Bibliography 221
Index 235