Euthanasia

Euthanasia: Law and Religion

The problem of Euthanasia. 1

Definition and types of Euthanasia. 2

Pro-euthanasia arguments 4

Anti-euthanasia arguments 4

Religion and Euthanasia 5

Christianity 6

Islam 6

Legality of Euthanasia 7

Belgium 7

Netherlands 7

Conclusion 8

Bibliography 8

The problem of Euthanasia.

Development of medicine influenced by scientific and technological progress confronts humanity with new and unexpected challenges. Empowering people, this progress simultaneously increases the number of situations where the human choice plays a vital role. Thus, another issue affecting the moral and legal aspects of society as well as medical ethics is aggravated. It refers to the problem of life and death that is called euthanasia.

Euthanasia is one of the most popular controversial issues of bioethics, as it raises a number of agonizing moral dilemmas such as:

* Does a person have the right to freely dispose of his life?

* Is the preservation of life always for the benefit of a person?

* Under what circumstances can euthanasia be justifiable, if at all?

Answers to these and other questions affect the meaning of human existence and the fundamental values of society.

Euthanasia breaks out numerous disputes among physicians, lawyers, psychologists, politicians and religious figures. However, the world community has not come to a consensus about euthanasia yet.

The aim of the work is to reveal the phenomenon of euthanasia as a problem from the legal and religious points of view. The main objectives of this work are to introduce the definition and types of euthanasia, consider the arguments for and against, study the practice of euthanasia in a number of countries in the world.

Definition and types of Euthanasia.

The word “euthanasia” comes from Greek and means "good death". The term was first used by Francis Bacon in the 17th century, to define an easy and painless death (Wikipedia, 2015).

In a modern sense,...