Abstract
Leon Kass's often-cited essay, “Death with Dignity and the Sanctity of Life,” provides the basis for a case study in the rhetorical function of definition in debates concerning bioethics. The study examines the way a particular definition of “human dignity” is used to maintain an advantage of power in the debate over the morality of physician-assisted suicide. It also considers sources of human dignity that are deflected from attention by the rhetoric of Kass's formulation.
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Hyde, M.J. Defining “Human Dignity” in the Debate Over the (Im)Morality of Physician-Assisted Suicide. Journal of Medical Humanities 22, 69–82 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026690128326
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026690128326