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'''Ian Robert Dowbiggin''', born |
'''Ian Robert Dowbiggin''', born in Montreal, Quebec, is an academic historian, and author of books on the history of euthanasia, eugenics, and mental health care. He is a professor in the [[History]] department at the [[University of Prince Edward Island]]. |
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==Euthanasia== |
==Euthanasia== |
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Dowbiggin has written extensively on the history of the [[euthanasia]] movement, including ''A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America'' (2003) and ''A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death, God, and Medicine'' (2005). His research was based on privileged access to the archives of Compassion and Choices, once called the Euthanasia Society of America. These records have mysteriously disappeared. Until they are recovered, his books remain the authoritative source on the history of the right-to-die movement. |
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Dowbiggin has written extensively on the history of the [[euthanasia]] movement, including ''A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America'' (2003) and ''A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death, God, and Medicine'' (2005). His works link [[Darwinism]] to the euthanasia movement,<ref>{{cite web | last = Weikart | first = Richard | year = 2004 | title = Killing Them Kindly: Lessons from the euthanasia movement | url = http://www.csustan.edu/history/faculty/Weikart/killing.htm | accessdate = July 23, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="Larson2004">{{cite journal | last = Larson | first = Edward | year = 2004 | title = Review: Euthanasia in America: Past, Present, and Future: A Review of a "Merciful End" and "Forced Exit" | journal = Michigan Law Review | volume = 102 | number = 6 | pages = 1245–1262 | jstor = 4141944}}</ref> and he has argued that "the ideological justification for euthanasia lies not in the advanced medical technologies of the late 20th century, but in the social Darwinism, [[eugenics]], and [[utilitarianism]] of the late 19th century",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/25444/subject/CulturalStudies/?view=usa&ci=9780195154436 |title=Oxford University Press: A Merciful End: Ian Dowbiggin |publisher=www.oup.com |accessdate=July 23, 2011 }}</ref> presenting the movement as utilitarian and [[Anti-clericalism|anticlerical]].<ref name="Larson2004" /> This focus has been criticised, with Dowbiggin having been accused of overemphasising the relationship between eugenics and euthanasia, and of muddying "important conceptual and practical distinctions" of the different aspects of euthanasia.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Woien | first = Sandra | year = 2007 | title = Review of Ian Dowbiggin, A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death, God, and Medicine and Neal Nicol and Harry Wylie, Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia | journal = [[American Journal of Bioethics]] | volume = 7 | issue = 11 | pages = 50–52 }}</ref> |
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He is also the author of "The Quest for Mental Health: A ale of Science, Medicine, Scandal, Sorrow, and Mass Society" (2011). Cambridge University Press made it their book of the month for August, 2011. |
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He has spoken against both euthanasia legislation and Darwinism, and has argued that the [[Netherlands]] shows how a slippery slope can form, where a "permissive attitude to assisted suicide" can lead to other changes.<ref>{{cite web | last = Casey | first = Donna | url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/11/02/4625978-sun.html |title=Debating euthanasia | work = CNews |publisher=Sun Media |accessdate= July 23, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/reviewofbooks_printable/4007/ |title=spiked review of books | Killer arguments against euthanasia | last = Yuill | first = Kevin | date = October 26, 2007 | work = The Spiked Review of Books | accessdate = July 23, 2011 }}</ref> On Darwinism, Dowbiggin has argued that with the overthrow of the theories of Marx and Freud, Darwinism may be next, and he has asked if [[Darwinism]] needs to be replaced with something else.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/518753631.html?dids=518753631:518753631&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+05%2C+1993&author=Ian+Dowbiggin+Special+to+The+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=After+Marx+and+Freud%2C+is+Darwin+next+to+tumble%3F&pqatl=google |title=After Marx and Freud, is Darwin next to tumble? |work=The Star |accessdate=July 23, 2011 | first=Ian | last=Dowbiggin | date=June 5, 1993 }}</ref> |
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In 2011 Dowbiggin was elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. |
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Dowbiggin has given speeches at a Canadian [[pro-life movement]] conference<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05112201.html |title=National Pro-Life Conference in Montreal A Rousing Success Despite Setbacks |work=LifeSiteNews.com | last = Gosgnach | first = Tony | date = November 22, 2005 |accessdate= July 23, 2011 }}</ref> and the ''Euthanasia Prevention Coalition'' symposium.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/nov/03111706.html |title=Prof Links Euthanasia, Eugenics, Sex Education, Population Control, Gay Rights and Abortion Movements |work=LifeSiteNews.com |date=November 17, 2003 | accessdate=July 23, 2011 }}</ref> |
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==Partial bibliography== |
==Partial bibliography== |
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Revision as of 13:33, 11 October 2011
Ian Robert Dowbiggin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1952 (age 71–72) |
| Alma mater | University of Rochester, University of Toronto, MacMaster University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | History |
| Institutions | University of Prince Edward Island |
Ian Robert Dowbiggin, born in Montreal, Quebec, is an academic historian, and author of books on the history of euthanasia, eugenics, and mental health care. He is a professor in the History department at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Euthanasia
Dowbiggin has written extensively on the history of the euthanasia movement, including A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America (2003) and A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death, God, and Medicine (2005). His research was based on privileged access to the archives of Compassion and Choices, once called the Euthanasia Society of America. These records have mysteriously disappeared. Until they are recovered, his books remain the authoritative source on the history of the right-to-die movement.
He is also the author of "The Quest for Mental Health: A ale of Science, Medicine, Scandal, Sorrow, and Mass Society" (2011). Cambridge University Press made it their book of the month for August, 2011.
In 2011 Dowbiggin was elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada.
Partial bibliography
- A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death, God, and Medicine (2005)
- A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America (2003)
- Suspicious Minds: The Triumph of Paranoia in Everyday Life (1999)
- Keeping America Sane: Psychiatry and Eugenics in the United States and Canada, 1880-1940 (1997)
- Inheriting Madness: Professionalization and Psychiatric Knowledge in 19th Century France (1991)