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Our physical ecosystem is not indestructible and we have obligations to hold it in trust for future generations. The same is true of our metaphysical ecosystem the values principles attitudes be- liefs and shared stories on which we have founded our society. In Bird on an Ethics Wire Margaret Somerville explores the values needed to maintain a world that reasonable people would want to live in and pass on to their descendants. Somerville addresses the conicts between peo- ple who espouse progressive values and those who uphold traditional ones by casting her at- tention on the debates surrounding birth abor- tion and reproductive technologies and death euthanasia and shows how words are often used as weapons. She proposes that we should seek to experience amazement wonder and awe to enrich our lives and help us to nd meaning. Such experi- ences Somerville believes can change how we see the world and live our lives and affect the deci- sions we make especially regarding values and ethics. They can help us to cope with physical or existential suffering and ultimately put us in touch with the sacred in either its secular or religious form which protects what we must not destroy. Experiencing amazement wonder and awe Somerville concludes can also generate hope without which our spirit dies. Both individuals and societies need hope a sense of connection to the future if the world is to make the best decisions about values in the battles that constitute the current culture wars. Margaret Somerville is a professor in the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. Praise for Death Talk This book would be a most welcome addition to the library of any person interested in the debate on euthanasia. Somerville succeeds in discussing openly and honestly both sides of the euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide debate. Saskatchewan Law Review P H I L O S O P H Y Bird on an Ethics Wire Battles about Values in the Culture Wars margaret somerville An exploration of the urgent need to rebalance individualsunfettered freedom to choose especially regarding birth and death. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S November 2015 978-0-7735-4640-0 32.95T CDN 29.95T US 20.99 cloth 6 x 9 344pp Ebook available R E L AT E D I N T E R E S T Death Talk Second Edition The Case against Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide 978-0-7735-4376-8 32.95A paper 5 M Q U P F A L L 2 0 1 5