A cycle of terms implicit in the idea of medicine: Karen Ann Quinlan as a rhetorical icon and the transvaluation of the ethics of euthanasia.
In this article, I examine competing characterizations of Karen Ann Quinlan's life and the role these characterizations played in shaping public attitudes toward euthanasia and medicine in America. I discuss the reasons Quinlan's coma brought forth radically contrasted narratives about who she was by applying Burke's (1961) cycle of terms implicit in the idea of order. I compare the manner in which traditional life-sanctity advocates spoke about her with the narratives and counternarratives offered by the family and the social innovators who would challenge those traditionalist assumptions.
Kenny
Robert Wade
RW
Department of Communication, University of Dayton, OH 45469, USA. doctorwadekenny@hotmail.com
D001293:Attitude to Death; D003128:Coma / Q000628:therapy; D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D033262:Narration; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000628:therapy*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011639:Public Opinion; D012297:Right to Die / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States