Citation

Amundsen DW. Issues Law Med. 1998; 13(4): 365-423.

Affiliation

Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Western Washington University, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, U.S. National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled; Horatio R. Storer Foundation)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9594453

Abstract

In this article, Prof. Darrel Amundsen critiques Judge Reinhardt's comments regarding "Historical Attitudes Toward Suicide" in his Compassion in Dying opinion. Amundsen demonstrates that the court's characterization of ancient Jewish and Christian practices is inaccurate and misleading because it fails to acknowledge the complexities of the moral issue of suicide. Amundsen discusses martyrdom, suicide in general, suicide by the ill, and euthanasia in ancient Judaism. In contrast to the court's commentary, Amundsen demonstrates that regard for human life is a central feature of Jewish ethical monotheism. Furthermore, the author challenges the court's conclusions about early Christianity, and explains why its treatment of the issue of suicide in early Christianity is misleading and inaccurate. Amundsen's discussion of early Christianity includes suicide, martyrdom, and especially the Augustinian teaching on suicide. He concludes that the court's treatment of the issue of suicide in early Christianity is so historically and conceptually muddled as to be fundamentally inaccurate.

Language: en