John Hardwig is a retired philosopher who was head of the philosophy department at the University of Tennessee.[1] He has published widely on bioethics, end of life issues and the notion of epistemic dependency and the role of experts. He is best known for a 1997 article proposing that individuals have a duty to die in situations when those who love them would have their lives seriously compromised by continuing to take care of them.[2]
In much of his writings, he calls for the learning of a "dying art", which he describes as becoming necessary at a time when death comes too late, rather than too early. This phenomenon is often referred to as the 'fourth phase' of the epidemiological transition.[3] He frequently argued that there are cases in which there exists a right to die, especially when prolonging life imposes a great burden on loved ones. His arguments have been very influential among contemporary philosophers.