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Paul T. Menzel, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Pacific Lutheran University. Paul taught philosophy at Pacific Lutheran University from 1971 to 2012, having been educated at Wooster, Yale, and Vanderbilt.  He taught widely in philosophy and cross-disciplinary curricula.  Courses in the last decade of his teaching include Biomedical Ethics, Human Identity and Bioethics, Health and Social Justice, Business Ethics, Human Rights, and The Nature of Human Well-Being. He also served Pacific Lutheran University in various administrative positions, including Provost.  He retired to Professor Emeritus in summer 2012.

His scholarly work, which continues unabated in retirement, has been focused on health care ethics.  It includes two books on moral questions in health care economics, numerous articles on health system structure and health care reform, and a co-edited book on the tension between treatment and prevention in health policy. Most recently he has authored numerous articles on end-of-life options, including voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) and advance directives to avoid living into years of severe dementia.  His most recent book, with Bonnie Steinbock, is Bioethics: What Everyone Needs To Know (Oxford University Press, March 2023).  

Paul and his wife Bonnie Steinbock have resided in Oakland, CA, since 2015. 

If you would like to visit the homepage for the PLU Department of Philosophy, click here.