Persons with pre-dementia have no Kantian duty to die
Cooley's argument that persons with pre-dementia have a Kantian duty to die has led to much debate. Cooley gives two reasons for his claim, the first being that a person with pre-dementia should end his/her life when he/she will inevitably and irreversibly lose rationality and be unable to live...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Bioethics
Year: 2021, Volume: 35, Issue: 5, Pages: 438-445 |
| IxTheo Classification: | NCH Medical ethics |
| Further subjects: | B
physician-assisted suicide
B Cooley B Advance Directives B Kant B Euthanasia B Dementia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Cooley's argument that persons with pre-dementia have a Kantian duty to die has led to much debate. Cooley gives two reasons for his claim, the first being that a person with pre-dementia should end his/her life when he/she will inevitably and irreversibly lose rationality and be unable to live morally as a result. This paper argues that this reason derives from an unsubstantiated premise and general confusion regarding the condition for a Kantian duty to die. Rather, a close reading of Kant reveals that such a condition occurs when a person confronts an external handicap that does not undermine his/her rational ability but deprives him/her of the possibility of living the way a person should. People do not confront this experience with progressive dementia. The other reason Cooley proposes is that a person should not allow their continued existence to become a burden to others. This claim partly stems from a radical interpretation of a case discussed by Kant and is partly based on a misuse of Kant's formulation of humanity. Based on a prudent inference from Kantian ethics, this article argues against Cooley that persons with pre-dementia have no Kantian duty to die. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-8519 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Bioethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/bioe.12865 |
