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Lebensunwertes Leben and the Obligation to Die: Does the Obligation to Die Rest on a Misunderstanding of Community?

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Abstract

In this paper the authors address the recent argument that we have an obligation to seek or actively bring about our own death when we burden others too greatly. Some of the problems with this argument and some of the practical conseqeuences of adopting such a point of view are discussed in this paper. We argue that the argument rests on an individualistic approach which sees the family being burdened as standing alone instead of seeing it as embedded in a burden-sharing community.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A

    Erich H. Loewy (Professor and Endowed Alumni Association Chair of Bioethics, Associate)

  2. Division of Haematology/Oncology, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A

    Roberta Springer Loewy (Assistant Clinical Professor of Bioethics)

Authors
  1. Erich H. Loewy
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  2. Roberta Springer Loewy
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(President -- Hans Jonas Verein, Wien, Austria)

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Loewy, E.H., Loewy, R.S. Lebensunwertes Leben and the Obligation to Die: Does the Obligation to Die Rest on a Misunderstanding of Community?. Health Care Analysis 7, 23–36 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009448003324

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009448003324

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