Liverpool Care Pathway: we need to be honest about how much a human life is really worth

How much suffering avoided is worth an unnecessary death? It’s a horrible question, but it’s one that we have to at least try to address honestly. Every day we make this call, or one like it, in lesser and greater ways, in every aspect of our lives. Do we cross at the lights, or jog…

We need the right to a dignified death. But we need to acknowledge the risks involved, as well

The trouble with us as a species is that we’re not very good at complexity and nuance. If we think something’s bad, we think it’s all bad; if we think something’s good, we think it’s all good. It’s been demonstrated that if we think something has plenty of benefits, we tend to subconsciously downplay its…

Lessons from the Death Zone

In the weeks before his death from oesophageal cancer, the Labour strategist Philip Gould filmed this intimate portrait of his thoughts. Whatever you think of his politics, it’s deeply moving: sad, yet full of hope. Please do watch it. • Warning: it’s a bit of a tearjerker, so if it leaves you feeling a bit…

Christopher Hitchens, an atheist in a foxhole

There are no atheists in foxholes, goes the old saw. Well, it’s not true, as Christopher Hitchens – a man of principle to the last – demonstrated. Many of his adversaries – and there were many; he was not one for pacifying platitudes – had expressed a hope or an expectation that this most trenchant…

On Larry King and an atheist’s fear of death

Larry King, the former CNN broadcaster, made the news this morning after saying he wants to be frozen after his death, so that he can be revived when medical technology improves. He might not be entirely serious – cryogenic freezing is something of a joke, after all – but his reasoning was interesting. First, I…