Citation

Kipke R. Ethik Med. 2015; 27(2): 141-154.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00481-014-0292-x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Definition of the problem The question whether a prohibition of physician-assisted suicide is justifiable plays a prominent role in the recent debate about this practice. Many authors argue that assisted suicide is an issue of individual choice, that a prohibition bases on particular conceptions of the good and that such a justification is not acceptable in a liberal society. Arguments Within the frame of a communitarian approach the article demonstrates that the handling of dying and what physicians are allowed to do is central for society and the professional identity of physicians and that every ethical position within this debate unavoidably rests upon certain conceptions of the good.

CONCLUSION Therefore it is necessary to deal with these conceptions in a transparent way and it is justifiable to impose a prohibition of physician-assisted suicide based on a conception of the common good that does not rest on supposed social consequences. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Language: de

Keywords

Society; Physician-assisted suicide; Liberalism; Autonomy; Common good; Communitarianism; Physicians’ identity