Concept
Right to die
Overview
The right to die is a concept rooted in the belief that individuals have the autonomy to make fundamental decisions about their own lives, including the choice to kill themselves or undergo voluntary euthanasia, central to the broader notion of health freedom. This right is often associated with cases involving terminal illnesses or incurable pain, where assisted suicide provides an option for individuals to exercise control over their suffering and dignity.
The debate surrounding the right to die frequently centers on the question of whether this decision should rest solely with the individual or involve external authorities, highlighting broader tensions between personal freedom and societal or legal restrictions.
Religious views on the matter vary significantly, with some traditions such as Hinduism (Prayopavesa) and Jainism (Santhara) permitting non-violent forms of voluntary death, while others, including Islam and Judaism, consider suicide a moral transgression.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
We bury our hopes, our wishes, and our desires with the dead, we are inconsolable and refuse to replace our loss. We act in this case as if we belonged to the tribe of the Asra who also die when those whom they love perish.[1] But this attitude of ours towards death exerts a powerful influence upon our lives. Life becomes impoverished and loses its interest when life itself, the highest stake in the game of living…
Sigmund Freud, Reflections on War and Death
States what Right to die is.
A body politic of this kind is called a Democracy, which may be defined as a society which wields all its power as a whole. The sovereign power is not restrained by any laws, but every one is bound to obey it in all things; such is the state of things implied when men either tacitly or expressly handed over to it all their power of self-defense, or in other words, all their right. For if they had wished to retain…
Benedictus de Spinoza, The Philosophy of Spinoza
States what Right to die is.
According to what has been said, the denial of the will to live, which is just what is called absolute, entire resignation, or holiness, always proceeds from that quieter of the will which the knowledge of its inner conflict and essential vanity, expressing themselves in the suffering of all living things, becomes. The difference, which we have represented as two paths, consists in whether that knowledge is called…
Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea
States what Right to die is.
Philosophers who discussed Right to die
Related ideas
- Hinduism
- Antinatalism
- Judaism
- Jainism
- Suicide
- Authority
- David Benatar
- Autonomy
- Bioethics
- BBC
- Mental disorder
- Suffering
- Netherlands
- Pain
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Self-determination
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Belgium
- Freedom
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Colombia
Place in the tradition
Part of Empedocles.