EUTHANASIA

Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Introduction

Euthanasia is the act resulting in the killing self-defense to end the pain and suffering, and is considered among some of the things people volunteer or voluntary depending on entity authorized to death. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek word euthanatos, which means eu = good, thanatos = death, meaning "good death" philosophical term has evolved over time and currently remains a matter of intense ethical debate that transcends the field of medicine or thanatology. In our civilization, euthanasia is a challenge from the ethical and legal. Some terminally ill ask to be left to die in order to complete their suffering. That presents a dilemma for not only the doctors and family, but also for society and the modern state.

However, in the social debate about euthanasia, not always taken the word in the same direction, and sometimes even preferred, by far, one or another meaning to defend this or that position dialectic. This often leads to sterility of the debate and, above all, serious confusion among the common people.

Thesis statement

The paper describes about one of the major ethical debates of our time is the subject of euthanasia, which along with the concept of assisted suicide focus on the old argument about life and death. Precisely what distinguishes euthanasia in relation to suicide is the fact that it is a person affected by a serious and incurable disease, ie, for which medical science can offer no alternatives.

History of Euthanasia

The word "euthanasia" appears in the seventeenth century philosopher Francis Bacon attributed to its creation during the Renaissance and it was conceived as "The acceleration of death in a sick man."

However, there are records that before Bacon already discussed the right of people to decide their own death. The first meaning of euthanasia in the Greco-Roman, not to be called that way, was "honest” (Death with a happy death, honest), it means to die well, without pain, and This idea does not account for help in dying, as it does of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Euthanasia is a theme, which keeps preoccupying the minds, inviting discussions and polls, lectures, and papers, even though its rejection not only by Church authorities but also by ethicists, jurists and theologians is rather universal. In the middle ages, Thomas Moore, describing in his famous Utopia, the ideal state is said by some to be the dying provide all care and solidarity . But consider that in cases of extraordinary pain may be advised to end his life. You can kill the patient if he agrees, depriving him of food or administering a poison. It also requires the permission of the authorities and priests to prevent abuses that would follow (LaFollette, 2002).

The Situation Today

After the theme of euthanasia had for a long time been taboo because of the shocking excesses of the euthanasia program of the Nazi regime in Germany in 1939-41, with the fading of the shock an increasing tendency can be noted to approve of euthanasia in desperate, hopeless ...