Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer have a guest opinion piece in Monday's New York Times, "There’s a Lesson to Learn From Daniel Kahneman’s Death:"
On March 19, 2024, we emailed the psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, inviting him to appear on our podcast, “Lives Well Lived,” and suggesting a date in May. He replied promptly, saying that he would not be available then because he was on his way to Switzerland, where, despite being relatively healthy at 90, he planned to die by assisted suicide on March 27.
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Professor Kahneman signaled concern that if he did not end his life when he was clearly mentally competent, he could lose control over the remainder of it and live and die with needless “miseries and indignities.” One lesson to learn from his death is that if we are to live well to the end, we need to be able to freely discuss when a life is complete, without shame or taboo. Such a discussion may help people to know what they really want. We may regret their decisions, but we should respect their choices and allow them to end their lives with dignity.
Other articles about Kahneman's death and decision to travel to Switzerland to avail himself of medical aid in dying are here (WSJ), here (NY Times), and here (Al Roth's blog). As many of these pieces note, Kahneman's death has reignited a debate about medical aid in dying. Although some US states permit assisted suicide, those laws require that the person seeking assistance have a terminal illness with a relatively short time left to live, usually six months, and Kahneman would not have met those requirements.
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