Ethics-Governance: Article: Human Dignity and the Ethics and Aesthetics of Pain and Suffering

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Human Dignity and the Ethics and Aesthetics of Pain and Suffering Human Dignity and the Ethics and Aesthetics of Pain and Suffering Dr Paulina Taboada. According to the Remmelick Commission’s Report (1991) in Holland 56% of the patients who requested euthanasia did so because of a feeling of ‘loss of dignity’. This datum is remarkable not least because the feeling of ‘loss of dignity’ was not listed among the conditions for ‘justifiable euthanasia’ in Holland. Also data stemming from the State of Oregon suggest that a sense of ‘loss of dignity’ is a frequent cause of requests for physician assisted suicide. As Engelhardt states (2000, p.311-312): "Why should nature be allowed to despoil the final chance to bequeath an example of a life self-possessed, a death completed with dignity, and a dying that does not burden others? Why should one not be free to die on one’s own terms, rather than at the whim of natural forces? If rationality, freedom, dignity, and self-determination distinguish the good life, should they not characterize the good death? Full Article: http://www.hospicecare.com/Ethics/monthlypiece/eithics2003/pom_feb03.htm


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