Joy of old age

Helen Small (Oxford University Press, £25)

At what point in a life can we measure its happiness? asks Small in her latest publication, The Long Life. Can it only be measured when it is over and has been closed well? Should a long virtuous and prosperous life be considered blessed despite a tragic end?

To address these questions, and so many linked with old age, Small calls on the writings of Plato, through to recent philosophical work by Derek Parfit, Bernard Williams and others. She also examines Shakespeare's King Lear and works by Thomas Mann, Balzac, Dickens, Beckett, Stevie Smith and Philip Larkin.

She argues that if we want to understand old age, we have to think more fundamentally about what it means to be a person, to have a life, to have (or lead) a good life, to be part of a just society.

This subject is not just of interest because it comes to us all in the end. As Small explains, this subject has repercussions for what we deem to be a good life, how we measure happiness, what we think a person is, and when we think we are at our best.

Medical conditions which manifest themselves in the old - such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, arthritis and heart disease - are more common now because fewer people die of illness or accident. Does this mean, therefore, that the aging process in the 21st century will differ from that experienced in previous centuries? And what contribution can science itself make to a philosophical understanding of ageing? As the book concludes, these are all good reasons for pressing past any natural reluctance to start thinking about old age seriously now.

The Long Life is an accessible, ground-breaking book and one likely to alter the way in which we talk about one of the great social concerns of our time - the growing numbers of those living to be old and the growing proportion of old to young.