| Killing people: what Kant could have said about suicide and euthanasia but did not. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 17012496 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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An agent who takes his own life acts in violation of the moral law, according to Kant; suicide, and, by extension, assisted suicide are therefore wrong. By a similar argument, and with a few important exceptions, killing is wrong; implicitly, then, voluntary euthanasia is also wrong. Kant's conclusions are uncompelling and his argument in these matters is undermined on considering other areas of his thought. Kant, in forbidding suicide and euthanasia, is conflating respect for persons and respect for people, and assuming that, in killing a person (either oneself or another), we are thereby undermining personhood. But an argument along these lines is faulty according to Kant's own standards. There is no reason why Kantians have to accept that self-killing and euthanasia are contrary to the moral law. Even if some Kantians adhere to this doctrine, others can reject it. |
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Authors:
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I Brassington |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Journal of medical ethics Volume: 32 ISSN: 0306-6800 ISO Abbreviation: J Med Ethics Publication Date: 2006 Oct |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2006-10-02 Completed Date: 2007-06-21 Revised Date: 2009-11-18 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 7513619 Medline TA: J Med Ethics Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 571-4 Citation Subset: E; IM |
Affiliation:
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School of Law, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. Iain.Brassington@manchester.ac.uk |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Attitude of Health Personnel* Ethicists Euthanasia, Passive / ethics* Humans Morals* Suicide* Suicide, Assisted / ethics* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Comment In:
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J Med Ethics. 2008 Sep;34(9):655-7
[PMID:
18757634
]
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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