In Defense of Volumtary Active Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (
2005)
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Abstract
In this essay I defend the following two claims: first, given appropriate circumstances, neither voluntary active euthanasia, nor assisting someone to commit suicide, is in any way morally wrong; secondly, there should be no laws prohibiting such actions, in the relevant cases.
The discussion is organized as follows. In the first section, I set out some preliminary concepts and distinctions. Then, in sections two and three, I offer two arguments in support of the thesis that assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia are not morally wrong. Finally, in section four, I ask whether there is any reason for thinking that, even if, as I have argued, voluntary active euthanasia and assisted suicide are not morally wrong, they should, nevertheless, not be legally permitted, and I argue that this is not the case.