Human Dignity as Concept and Lived Experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-557
Author(s):  
Columba Thomas ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Alternative Framework ◽  
President’S Council On Bioethics ◽  
John Paul Ii ◽  
Inherent Dignity ◽  
Edmund Pellegrino ◽  
President's Council On Bioethics

In Evangelium vitae, Pope St. John Paul II addresses euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide by striking a balance—maintaining the inherent dignity of all persons while considering the lived experience of those struggling to see dignity amidst suffering. Subsequently, a debate about the word dignity has led to clarifications from the President’s Council on Bioethics (under President George W. Bush) regarding different uses of the word. This essay relies on the work of the council, especially an essay by Edmund Pellegrino, to provide a basis for reflecting on John Paul II’s approach to dignity in Evangelium vitae in terms of concept and lived experience. To further develop these insights, an alternative framework is proposed for thinking about dignity in the practical setting.

Dignity and the Case in Favor of Assisted Suicide

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf Stoecker
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Commit Suicide

Advocates of legalization of physician-assisted suicide usually argue that it is as matter of respect for human dignity that people get help in ending their lives (1) because the prohibition interferes with a fundamental liberty to conduct life according to one’s own preferences and (2) because sometimes suicide is an appropriate measure to avoid living an undignified life. In this chapter, it is argued that although the first argument is strong, the second argument is misguided. Hence, from an ethical perspective, society should not legally prohibit physician-assisted suicide. Yet, the person him- or herself should not commit suicide either. In particularly, the person should not regard such a suicide as a demand of his or her dignity.

scholarly journals On Martyrdom, Suicide, and Christian Bioethics

2020 ◽  
pp. 002436392092731
Author(s):  
Ethan M. Schimmoeller
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Eternal Life ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
New Vision ◽  
The Individual

Christ has fashioned a remedy for the human condition out of mortality, making death the paradoxical means of salvation. Thus, the early Church saw martyrdom as the best kind of death, epitomized in the story of St. Ignatius of Antioch. He saw his death in Christ to be a birth into eternal life. Yet martyrdom and suicide can be conflated under crafty definitions and novel terminology, leading inevitably to calls to soften prohibitions against physician-assisted suicide. Whereas martyrdom locates death within the Christian lived experience of the Paschal mystery, suicide transfers the sovereignty of God over life and death to the individual, necessarily denying the goodness of creation in the process. I point to a liturgical foundation for bioethics as a better starting point for understanding martyrdom and suicide. Entering Christ’s sacrifice, Christians receive divine life and new vision to locate suffering, death, and health care within the Christian salvation narrative. Summary: Confusing martyrdom and suicide locates ethics outside the Church by bending language around the 5th commandment. St. Ignatius of Antioch's martyrdom clarifies the role of the Christian bioethicist to situate health care in the Church's life-giving liturgical experience.

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