Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide

Euthanasia engenders debates over courage and cowardice, glory and defeat, and dignity and suffering. Ultimately, the euthanasia debate is about who we are as human beings. Are we masters of ourselves, if not of our universe, or are we more like subjects of a ruler whose reasoning we struggle to understand? Are we Prometheus or are we Job?

All concerns over end-of-life decision making ultimately are concerns about euthanasia. For those who follow in the footsteps of Job, euthanasia is a dangerous concept, and the word itself has only negative connotations. For those who follow in the footsteps of Prometheus, the word euthanasia harks back to its original meaning in the Greek: e??a?asía: e?, eu, meaning “good,” and ???at??, thanatos, meaning “death.” (Arras, 96)

In some major respects, the moral foundations of our culture are in direct conflict with each other. Joseph Campbell explains that “the ultimate loyalty of the Bible … is not to mankind but to God…, whereas the sympathy of the Greeks, finally, is for man; and the respect of the Greeks, for man's reason.” Modern Western traditions are now a mix of these two diametrically opposed perspectives. Campbell continues: “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we are humanists with the Greeks; Sunday, for half an hour, Levantines, with the Prophets: and the following Monday, groaning on some equally troubled psychotherapist's couch.” (Foley, 39)

No ethical debate in our culture exemplifies this fundamental philosophical contradiction more than the debate over end-of-life decision making. From Karen Ann Quinlan to Terri Schiavo, families, courts, legislatures, and society in general continue this ancient debate. When is it acceptable to allow individuals to hasten their own deaths or for them to request that others do it for them? Is it ever acceptable to hasten the death of another without their consent ...