As medical technology advances to the point when any human life can be maintained almost indefinitely, questions related to the quality of that life inevitably arise. In this volume two prominent ethicists in the debate James J. Walter and Thomas A. Shannon bring together thirty two of the best articles dealing with Quality of Life' questions. The list of authors reads like a who's who in biomedical ethics today including Joseph Fletcher, Richard McCormick, Cynthia Cohen, Anthony Shaw, Albert Jonsen, Karen Lebacqz, John Paris, Warren Reich, Wiliam E. May, David Thomasma, Daniel Callahan, George Annas, and others. Part One looks at the theological, philosophical and medical definitions of the phrase Quality of Life. Part Two presents various applications of quality of life to the specific medical situations of prenatal diagnosis and abortion, imperiled new borns the permanently unconscious patient the care of the eldery euthanasia and assisted suicide. In part Three public policy issues are examined by focusing on several medical and legal precedents as well as on recent guidelines that adopt the phrase quality of life.