The History of Euthanasia

The origins of the word ‘Euthanasia’ are Greek and translate to ‘easy death’. The definition of Euthanasia or 'dignified suicide' is the act of which one gets injected with a substance that will peacefully kill them. It's not euthanasia to give a drug in order to eliminate immediate pain, even though the drug causes the patient to die sooner. This is because the doctor wanted to relieve the pain, not to kill the patient. This is known as the Doctrine of Double effect.

The history of euthanasia can be traced back to the classical antiquity times when many Greek and Roman philosophers considered suicide a “good death” and an appropriate response to a variety of circumstances (Dowbiggin 7). During that period, people would kill themselves through various means such as fasting, drinking poison, and hanging themselves. Unexplained pain due to certain diagnosis caused a spike in suicide which allowed the given

Euthanasia got its modern connotation beginning in the late nineteenth century (Dowbiggin 1). The Great Depression caused a major spike in discussion concerning suicide and controlled dying (Dowbiggin 33). Suicide rates rose about four percent at the beginning of the Great Depression, but slowly began to decrease across the entire decade. Several important figures killed themselves, which alerted several people to the need to talk about suicide and methods people killed themselves (Dowbiggin 34). Voluminous topics of euthanasia lead towards a conversation about Hitler, and the way he sterilized and euthanized people, bringing the negative connotation into the discussion (Singer 201). What some fail to see is that in the medical community, the

Prior to the fifteenth century, early civilizations upheld the right of citizens to kill themselves rather than endlessly suffer. According to Friend (2011, p. 110), upon request, physicians often provided poison to their patients. Doctors of the Hippocratic School oft challenged the practice and acceptance of euthanasia, but

Physician-assisted suicide: Death with dignity addresses morality and ethics involved with physician-assisted suicide or PAS. History of euthanasia is given, dating back to ancient civilizations. PAS models in other countries besides the United States are explained in detail. The author addresses

As for its historical account, euthanasia was widely accepted in its conceptualization by the ancient Greeks and Romans. From there on out, however, there has been much controversy regarding this ethical matter. Many religious

Euthanasia has quite a history, and has been an ongoing debate since the fifth century B.C. Other subjects, such as some we have today,

In his book Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring? Dr. Michael Manning M.D breaks euthanasia into further subsets: voluntary active euthanasia, involuntary active euthanasia, passive euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. He states that the debate between euthanasia and physician assisted suicide can be defined as such: “Is it morally acceptable, and so ought it be legally permissible, for a physician to take the life of a competent, terminally ill patient who requests it, or for a physician to assist the competent, terminally ill patient in taking his or her own life” (4). The Oregon Legal Glossary website defines a terminal illness as “an incurable and irreversible disease that has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within six months”. Some might wonder why an individual diagnosed with a terminal illness would want to hasten their time of death instead of using the time they have left to be with their family and do what they had always wanted to do. The answer to this can be traced to the ancient Greeks. Manning, notes that during classical Greek antiquity and before the Christian era of the Roman Empire, euthanasia did not mean what it means today. For the individuals of this era, euthanasia was “focused not on the act of hastening death itself, but rather on the manner of one’s

Euthanasia dates back to ancient Roman times where a doctor has dual roles: one to

Cultures around the world have been using assisted suicide to provide an easy and painless death for hundreds of years. “Euthanasia,” a term created by Suetonius, is two greek words “Eu

Euthanasia, the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering, dates to the first and second centuries. Euthanasia comes from the Greek word Eu (good) and Thanatosis (death). While euthanasia typically refers to the assistance of a painless death for a chronically or terminally ill individual who would otherwise suffer, it meant something else to Nazi Germany during the reign of Hitler. Euthanasia actually became Nazi Germany’s first program of mass murder.

The ethical issue is Euthanasia, there are many groups that support or oppose this issue. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The different viewpoints are based around whether it is humane to assist someone in dying and whether it should be illegal for someone to assist the death of someone who has a terminal illness and are suffering incurable pain. Groups that oppose the issue generally believe that it is inhumane to end someone 's life early, these groups generally believe these people should be given care and as much comfort as possible until their last days. Groups that support the issue generally believe that if someone has lost their mental state or are suffering unbearable pain that cannot be cured, that they should be allowed the option of euthanasia because it is inhumane to make someone suffer unbearable pain if they do not need to. An ethical issue brings systems of morality and principles into conflict, ethical issues are more subjective and opinionated and generally cannot be solved with facts, laws and truth. Euthanasia is an ethical issue because there are two equally unacceptable options. It is considered wrong

The lack of consensus; thereof, in American society on the ethical question of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide could be attributed solely to the incredibly complexity and gravity of the issue. Therefore, in this study I will suggest, explore, and discuss that part of the ethical problem with euthanasia is under what circumstances, if any,

The term Euthanasia is derived from the Greek words, Eu (good) and Thanatosis (death) meaning a very gentle and easy death. The definition of euthanasia has now come down to “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.” Therefore, this term can be also called “mercy killing”. In this sense euthanasia means the active or inactive death of a patient. This form of “easy death” for hopeless and suffering patients has been around since ancient ages as, Mesopotamia strictly forbade euthanasia following the sixth commandment “thou shall not kill”, India practiced it by drowning incurable patients in the Ganges

Euthanasia is defined as, "The act or practice of putting to death painlessly a person suffering from an incurable disease." Euthanasia can be traced back as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. It was sometimes allowed in these civilizations to help others die. Voluntary euthanasia was approved in these ancient societies. Today, the practice of euthanasia causes great controversy. Both pro-life groups and right-to-die groups present arguments for their different sides. Pro-life groups make arguments and present fears against euthanasia. I contend that the case for the right to die is the stronger argument.