three editions. In 1975, Rachels wrote "Active and Passive Euthanasia", which originally appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, and argued that the distinction so important in the law between killing and letting die (often based on the principle of double effect) has no rational basis. He argued that, if we allow passive euthanasia, we should also allow active euthanasia, because it is more humane, and because there is no significant moral difference between killing and allowing to die. The End of Life (1986), a moral treatise on life and death, broadened and deepened these ideas. Rachels wrote only a few works that were not directly focused on ethics. Created from Animals (1990) made the case that a Darwinian world-view has widespread philosophical implications, including drastic implications for our treatment of nonhuman entities. Can Ethics Provide Answers? (1997) was Rachels's first collection of papers. His second, The Legacy of Socrates, was published posthumously in 2007. Shortly before his death, he wrote Problems from Philosophy (2005), an introduction to philosophy. Vegetarianism Rachels authored papers defending moral vegetarianism. His best known paper on the subject was The Basic Argument for Vegetarianism in 2004. Rachels proposed what he called the basic argument for vegetarianism which he believed is supported by a simple principle that every decent person accepts: it is wrong to cause pain unless there is a good enough reason. Rachels argued that the primary reason why cruelty to animals is wrong is because tortured animals suffer, just as tortured humans suffer. He held the view that inflicting pain on animals can sometimes be justified but we must have a sufficiently good reason for doing so. The idea to consume meat just because it tastes good does not come close to justifying the cruelty of the meat industry. Rachels stated that "from a practical standpoint, it makes sense to focus first on the things that cause the most misery". At the top of this list was factory farming. According to Rachels' basic argument, abstention from factory-farmed animals is necessary as these animals suffer the most. Bibliography with Stuart Rachels (2008). The Truth About the World : Basic Readings in Philosophy. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. . with Stuart Rachels (2006). The Legacy of Socrates: Essays in Moral Philosophy. Columbia University Press. . (2005). Problems from Philosophy. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. (2004). The Basic Argument for Vegetarianism. In Sapontzis (ed.) Food for Thought: