Autonomy and assisted suicide. The execution of freedom.
Proponents of assisted suicide who base their arguments on autonomy err in ways that are little attended to. In the absence of a substantive theory of the good, in neither a descriptive nor an ascriptive sense can the concept of autonomy distinguish those acts that should be morally prohibited from those that may be permitted. And to impose a particular theory of the good, whether individual liberty or the sanctity of life, violates the autonomy of those who do not share a commitment to that theory.
J P
JP
Safranek
D026686:Beneficence; D003469:Culture; D003657:Decision Making; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005610:Freedom; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D017236:Suicide, Assisted; D014481:United States; D026712:Value of Life; D035761:Wedge Argument