Alla människor har tankar som berör deras egen död. Hur begravningen ska gå till, vilks som ska vara närvarande vid dödsbädden eller vad som är det bästa sättet att avsluta livet på är bara några tankar om döden. Studiens syfte är att söka svar på hur akademiska filosofer argumenterar om etik och moral i förhållande till aktiv dödshjälp, eutanasi. Genom att analysera fyra argumentativa texter skrivna av både förespråkare och motståndare till eutanasi kan det ses ett mönster i vilka aspekter som är ständigt återkommande i debattten. Studien analyserar Daniel Callahan, John Keown, Torbjörn Tännsjö och Helga Kuhse vilka har valts ut utifrån olika kriterier. Undersökningen visar bland annat tydligt att uppfattningen om den moraliska skillnaden mellan att döda och att låta dö är en väldigt viktig fråga i debatten. Vidare har undersökningen visat att genom att belysa problematiken på att döda och låta dö anspelar man på aktiv och passiv eutanasi. I studien görs sedan en komparation där de argument som lyfts fram fråna båda sidor för att pröva hållbarheten utan att för sin skull påpeka att den ena sidan är mer rättfärdig än den andra.

This diploma thesis deals with bioethical and medical issues of assisted suicide. Compatibility of assisted suicide and medical ethos is one of the most urgent ethical questions of modern medicine. The centre of the diploma thesis will consist of an ethical reflection of tension between assisted suicide by a doctor on one side and medical ethos, as contained, for example in the Hippocratic Oath, the code of the World Medical Association and other important medical documents, on the other side. In the introduction the diploma thesis describes the distinction between assisted suicide and other forms of active euthanasia, basic information about the legal regulations and essential elements of assisted suicide in individual countries where assisted suicide is legalized. Then, the subject will be systematically reflected based on critical analysis of the medical codes and legal regulations of the countries. Ethical reflection will also be based on the experience and reflection of doctors themselves, as recorded in professional ethical publications from countries where assisted suicide is practiced. The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe and reflect on the ethical perspective the tension that occurs in the medical assistance to assisted suicide and systematize ethically relevant issues that are...

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The paper explores historical positions on suicide and philosophical, theological, and moral positions on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. In 1900, most people died from infectious diseases, which have relatively short periods of morbid decline. With advances in the biomedical sciences, people are living longer, and most people die from chronic diseases, which are usually accompanied by prolonged periods of morbid decline. In addition to living longer, people today are generally more individualist and seek methods to control many aspects of life. While assisted death is rarely used, it represents a means to control end-of-life suffering. The paper demonstrates that there is substantial opposition to assisted death among philosophers, theologians and bioethicists. The paper also argues that improved education about end-of-life palliative alternatives would alleviate fears about end-of-life suffering. The thesis is that the use of palliative alternatives is morally and ethically superior to physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.

Physician assisted suicide (PAS) has been a legalized presence in the United States since Oregon first passed the Death with Dignity Act in 1994. Now PAS is legalized in six states and it is realistic that nurses may encounter PAS during their career. This project explores pre-licensure nursing student attitudes toward PAS. A mixed method design incorporating descriptive correlation and thematic analysis of an open-ended question was used. Surveys were sent to 550 nursing students enrolled in the UCF nursing program asking participants to complete the 34-question survey. This survey included a 12 item “Domino scale” on student nursing opinions toward physician-assisted suicide, and a 23-item demographic scale. Complete, usable results were obtained from 231 participants. Demographic data revealed that the typical participant was between 18 and 25 years of age (80%), female (82%), single (87%), white (69%), in their first two semesters of the nursing program (60%), and unemployed (56%). The total scores for the Domino scale indicated a mean of 40. Regression analyses found that participant experience of someone having asked for help with PAS, and participant religiosity were significant predictors (F = 9.82, p = .0019; and F= 160.36, p < .0001) respectively of nursing student opinions on PAS as measured by the Domino scale. Qualitative analysis produced the following themes related to participant opinion on the nurse’s role in PAS: ways nurses can help with PAS, nurses should not be involved with PAS, clarification and delineation of the PAS process, the preservation of autonomy, the need for more education and inaccurate assumptions of PAS. This study showed that nursing students are moderately in support of PAS and willing to provide care to patients who are terminally ill regardless of a his or her personal decisions regarding PAS. Participants also comment that they desire additional education. Suggestions for further education, practice enhancements, research and policy development are discussed.

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Since passing its Death with Dignity Act into law in 1997, Oregon remains the only state in America to make physician-assisted suicide an explicit legal right. Currently, the legality of physician-assisted suicide falls under the jurisdiction of each individual state. Had the United States Supreme Court ruled differently in a recent case, however, the issue would have transferred to federal jurisdiction. The Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC) takes responsibility for developing the original Death with Dignity Act and has since moved on to proposing similar legislation in other states. It also champions states' rights, fearing that placing physician-assisted suicide under federal jurisdiction would severely hinder its goals. The DDNC has led the legal movement for making physician-assisted suicide an end of life choice available in each state, as well as for keeping that decision at the state level. Utilizing a content analysis, this study coded for frames used by the DDNC in its press releases and frames used in newspaper coverage of death with dignity across the same period of time. It was found that press releases about and newspaper coverage of the death with dignity social movement shared significant correlations in terms of the frames each used, as well as the level of substance given to these frames. Few significant correlations were found, however, for frame valence. It seems as though discussion of this social movement utilizes the same substantive or ambiguous frames, but cannot decide whether these frames are positive, neutral, or negative. / Master of Arts

Bakgrund: Dödshjälp är endast lagligt i ett fåtal länder och stater i världen, men det förekommer att patienter förmedlar en önskan om dödshjälp till vårdpersonal, även i andra länder. Läkare beskriver bördan med att hantera förfrågningar om dödshjälp och försöker undvika dessa genom att behandla patienters fysiska samt psykiska behov. Anhöriga till individer som dött genom dödshjälp, menade att den döende individens livskvalitet förbättrades i slutet av deras liv relaterat till beslutet gällande dödshjälp. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors attityder till, samt erfarenheter kring dödshjälp. Metod: En litteraturöversikt, i enlighet med Friberg genomfördes. Systematisk sökning har utförts i databaserna CINAHL Complete och PubMed. Resultatet av översikten baseras på 13 originalartiklar.  Resultat: Sjuksköterskors attityder varierar oavsett om de arbetar i länder där dödshjälp är lagligt eller inte. Tendenser tyder på att sjuksköterskor är mer positivt inställda till eutanasi än läkarassisterat självmord. De underliggande aspekter som påverkar sjuksköterskors attityder grundas på deras personliga värderingar utifrån professionell kunskap, erfarenheter och religiösa övertygelser. Sjuksköterskor kan rättfärdiga sina handlingar genom så kallad dubbel-effekt, där goda handlingar utförs trots att det kan leda till negativa konsekvenser. Palliativ vård fungerar som preventiv strategi, vilket tidvis minskar antalet förfrågningar om dödshjälp. Diskussion: Resultaten är diskuterade utifrån Beauchamp och Childress etiska principer, samt vårdande utifrån deras tolkning av vårdande etik. Det uppstår konflikter mellan sjuksköterskors personliga värderingar, yrkesprofessionella kunskap, lagar och de etiska principerna i vårdandet av döende individer med obotliga sjukdomar.

Cette thèse porte sur les fondements philosophiques des institutions démocratiques canadiennes et analyse comment leur conception réelle contribue à les atteindre. Pour passer de la théorie à la pratique, la démocratie doit être institutionnalisée. Les institutions ne sont pas que de simples contraintes sur les actions du gouvernement. Elles incarnent des normes démocratiques. Cependant, les théories démocratiques contemporaines sont souvent abstraites et désincarnées. Alors qu’elles étudient les fondements normatifs de la démocratie en général, elles réfléchissent rarement sur les mécanismes permettant d’atteindre l’idéal démocratique. À l’inverse, la science politique tente de tracer l’ensemble du paysage institutionnel entourant l’action de l’État. Mais l’approche de la science politique a une faiblesse majeure : elle n’offre aucune justification épistémologique ou morale des institutions démocratiques. Cette dichotomie entre les principes et les institutions est trompeuse. Les principes de la démocratie libérale sont incarnés par les institutions. En se concentrant sur les fondements philosophiques des institutions démocratiques et libérales, cette thèse fait revivre une longue tradition d’Aristote à John Stuart Mill et réunissant des penseurs comme Montesquieu et James Madison. Actuellement, la recherche universitaire se détourne encore des questions institutionnelles, sous prétexte qu’elles ne seraient pas assez philosophiques. Cependant, le design institutionnel est une question philosophique. Cette thèse propose des améliorations pour que les institutions démocratiques remplissent leur rôle philosophique de manière plus adéquate. Le suicide médicalement assisté est utilisé comme un exemple de l’influence des institutions sur la démocratie. / This thesis focuses on the philosophical foundations of the Canadian democratic institutions and how their actual design contributes to achieve them. To move from theory to practice, democracy must be institutionalized. Institutions are not only mere constraints on government actions. They embody democratic norms. However, contemporary democratic theories are often abstract and disembodied. While they study the normative foundations of democracy in general, they rarely reflect on mechanisms to achieve the democratic ideal. On the opposite, political science tries to draw the whole institutional landscape surrounding the state’s action. But the political science approach has a major weakness: it offers no epistemological or moral justifications for democratic institutions. This dichotomy between principles and institutions is misleading. The principles of liberal democracy are embodied by institutions. By focusing on the philosophical foundations of democratic and liberal institutions, this thesis revives a long tradition from Aristotle to John Stuart Mill, bringing together thinkers like Montesquieu and James Madison. Nowadays, academic research still diverts from institutional issues under the pretext that they would not be philosophical enough. However, institutional design is a philosophical matter. This thesis proposes improvements for democratic institutions to fulfill their philosophical role more adequately. Physician-assisted suicide is used as an example of the influence of institutions on democracy.

The aim of this thesis is to clarify the concept of the right to life in the legislative in the Czech Republic and in abroad with a comparison with its unnatural end, while abortion and euthanasia. This work is primarily devoted to law regulation of these institutes, but also covers other aspects such as religion, philosophy and science. It is designed so that each and every chapter is in its introductory section devoted to the formulation of the topic, the historical development in the Czech Republic but also abroad, it introduces the possible procedures and attitudes, it mentions for example and briefly compares similar institutes. Other parts of the diploma deal with legislation whether the right to life, abortion or euthanasia, provides comparison of domestic legislation with internationals. In light of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights points the views and attitudes on the subject at the international level. The final section is then evaluated core issues especially from the standpoint of law.