Beyond Any Kind of God

by Jack Kevorkian

Almost lost to obscurity before now, Beyond Any Kind of God gives readers a glimpse into the philosophical views of the most controversial physician of our time. Written after his life-changing voyages abroad, Kevorkian's only philosophical book provides a compelling study of the doctor's early views on the meaning of life, solipsism, and death.Jack (Jacob) Kevorkian was infamous in his later life for his support of doctor-assisted suicide, for which he was incarcerated for eight years. Kevorkian was a multi-talented physician, philosopher, musician, and artist, and he wrote several books and countless articles on topics ranging from medical to philosophical to political. He was a firm believer in the "right to die," and his views made him one of the most controversial figures of recent American history. Born in Pontiac, Michigan, in 1928 to Armenian-immigrant parents, Kevorkian showed an early interest in languages and medicine. He graduated from University of Michigan Medical School in 1952, and entered the Army, later serving in the Korean War. Upon leaving the Army, Kevorkian traveled extensively, and out of these travels came the inspiration for much of his early literature, including Beyond Any Kind of God. As a pathologist, Kevorkian researched unique procedures, and he became interested in end-of-life planning and care. In 1999, he was convicted for helping over one hundred patients end their lives, and he was incarcerated for eight years. Upon release, he toured the country and continued his campaign for a patient's right to make end-of-life decisions until his death in 2011.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy

99 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian was an American pathologist, right-to-die activist, painter, composer, and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he said that he assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said that "dying is not a crime".

Beginning in 1999, Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He was released on parole on June 1, 2007, on condition that he would not offer suicide advice to any other person.

As an oil painter and a jazz musician, Kevorkian marketed limited quantities of his visual and musical artwork to the public.

Reviews

[InYourFaceNewYorker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was much deeper than his "Dr. Death" stereotype. Who knew that in the 1960s he wrote a philosophy book, and an interesting one at that? "Beyond Any Kind of God" is a very accessible read, and it explores issues such as life, death, perception and, especially, consciousness. Some of Kevorkian's assertions and data are a bit dated (again, this was written in the '60s) and some are a bit silly, but for the most part this work offers an interesting perspective of the world.

Note: "Beyond Any Kind of God" was heavily revised and incorporated into "GlimmerIQs."

Note 2: Disregard the "progress" notes. I don't have a kindle and I was reading this on and off on my computer. I found a program that converted the file to PDF so I could print it out and read it on the subway. When I finally did that, I started over on August 15th, 2012, and finished on August 16th, 2012.