Overview

Euthanasia (from Greek “good death”) is the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering. It is a central topic in bioethics, raising questions about autonomy, the value of life, and the role of medicine.

Core Idea

The core debate is between the sanctity of life (life is always good/sacred) and the quality of life (life is only good if it is bearable).

Formal Definition

  • Active Euthanasia: Taking specific steps to cause death (e.g., injecting a lethal drug).
  • Passive Euthanasia: Withdrawing treatment to allow death to occur naturally (e.g., turning off a ventilator).
  • Voluntary: With the patient’s consent.
  • Non-voluntary: When the patient cannot consent (e.g., coma).

Intuition

  • The Suffering Pet: We put down pets to end their misery and call it an act of mercy. Proponents ask: Why do we deny this mercy to humans?
  • The Slippery Slope: Opponents worry that if we allow killing for mercy, we might eventually start killing the “unwanted” or “expensive” members of society.

Examples

  • Assisted Suicide: A physician provides the means (pills), but the patient performs the act. Legal in some places (e.g., Switzerland, Oregon).
  • Terminal Sedation: Keeping a patient unconscious until they die (a common practice that blurs the line).

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: It’s always about physical pain.
    • Correction: Often it is about loss of dignity, autonomy, or “existential suffering.”
  • Misconception: Doctors oppose it.
    • Correction: The medical community is deeply divided. Some see it as violating the Hippocratic Oath (“do no harm”); others see it as the ultimate harm reduction.
  • Autonomy: The right to control one’s own body and death.
  • Palliative Care: Specialized medical care for people with serious illness (the alternative to euthanasia).
  • Doctrine of Double Effect: Doing something good (relieving pain) that has a bad side effect (hastening death) is permissible if the bad effect wasn’t intended.

Applications

  • Law: The legal status varies wildly around the world (e.g., legal in Benelux/Canada, illegal in most of US/UK).
  • Advance Directives: Living wills where people specify their wishes in case they become incapacitated.

Criticism and Limitations

  • Vulnerability: Critics fear the elderly or disabled might feel pressured to “die” to stop being a burden.
  • Sanctity of Life: Religious arguments that life is a gift from God and we have no right to end it.

Further Reading

  • Life’s Dominion by Ronald Dworkin
  • Causing Death and Saving Lives by Jonathan Glover