Ramsey on "Choosing Life" at the End of Life: Conceptual Analysis of Euthanasia and Adjudicating End-of-Life Care Options

Ramsey sees life as a gift and a trust given to people by God. This theological understanding of human life frames his judgment of the immorality of euthanasia in its many forms. Assuming Ramsey's theological insights and framing of this issue, I highlight a particular way of thinking about eut...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Christian bioethics
Main Author: Smith, Patrick T. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Oxford University Press [2018]
In: Christian bioethics
IxTheo Classification:CF Christianity and Science
CH Christianity and Society
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
NBE Anthropology
NCH Medical ethics
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Description
Summary:Ramsey sees life as a gift and a trust given to people by God. This theological understanding of human life frames his judgment of the immorality of euthanasia in its many forms. Assuming Ramsey's theological insights and framing of this issue, I highlight a particular way of thinking about euthanasia that both seems to capture the essence of the debate and does not necessarily build the moral evaluation into its description. I aim to identify and unpack the description most consistent with the claims made by Ramsey of how other end-of-life (EOL) care options are seen as life choices in order to die well enough. If this project is right-headed, it can be used as a backdrop for assessing how many of the currently accepted and perhaps developing options in EOL and palliative care may or may not be morally distinct from euthanasia. Therefore, those who oppose euthanasia while wanting also to maintain the appropriateness of many of other EOL care options in certain situations are not acting inconsistently. This primarily conceptual work is done in service to those who take Ramsey's theological framework seriously.
ISSN:1744-4195
Contains:Enthalten in: Christian bioethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/cb/cby005