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Ward, James (1843–1925) warranted assertibility wayward causal chain weakness of will, Weber, Max (1864—1920) E thics A species of the slippery slope argument , elaborated by Bishop Sullivan against legalizing active euthanasia . Once a single instance of direct killing is approved of by society, we have admitted the thin edge of a wedge. We will then inevitably concede more cases by pressing the wedge forward and eventually put all life at risk. To avoid this terrible consequence, we should outlaw from the very beginning any mercy killing. But many philosophers reject this argument on the grounds that we are reasonable enough to distinguish between justifiable killing and unjustifiable killing. “[T]o permit in a single instance the direct killing of an innocent person would be to admit a most dangerous wedge that might eventually put all life in a precarious condition.” Sullivan, in Kohl (ed.), Beneficent Euthanasia Weil, Simone (1909–43) welfare welfarism well-being well-formed formula well-founded phenomena Weyl, Hermann (1885–1955) wff, what-it-is Whewell, William (1794–1866) Whitehead, Alfred North (1861–1947) wide content, wide states, Wiggins, David (1933–) will will (Kant) will of all will to believe will to power William of Ockham (c.1285–1347) Williams, Bernard (1929–2003) Winch, Peter (1926–97) wisdom Wisdom, John (1904–93) Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889–1951) Wolff, ... log in or subscribe to read full text