Four Key Concepts in Existential Health Care Ethics

Existential ethics is the study of the ethical and evaluative implications of human extinction. This article examines 4 key concepts in this emerging field: (1) Going Extinct is different from Being Extinct; (2) extinction-causing catastrophes are different in kind, not just degree, from non-extinction-causing catastrophes; (3) "human extinction" can have multiple meanings, which, when applied, can yield multiple, even conflicting, conclusions about what might constitute best future outcomes; and (4) there are historical reasons why existential ethics has tended to be ignored until recently. One goal of this article is to launch a discussion about what existential health care ethics could look like.