Citation

Anselm R. Zeitschrift fur Evangelische Ethik 2015; 59(2): 104-113.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The article starts by defining Christian ethics as an ethics of liberty. This liberty is not arbitrary, but puts itself into practice in the individual response to existing goods. In this setting, it is the challenge of ethics to analyze the content and proportion of the goods in relation to each other and to check whether they contribute to the realization of liberty. Concerning questions of assisted suicide, the focus lies upon the goods of life, liberty, and self-determination. The article argues that life should be classified as a good, not as a duty, and that its usage should be oriented around a concept of self-determination and liberty. Finally, this leads to considering assisted suicide as a legitimate possibility for medical action, albeit in borderline cases only. © Gütersloher Verlagshaus 2015.

Language: en