Existential Suffering in the History of Assisted Dying Debates
Type
conference contribution
Date Issued
2025-04-09
Author(s)
Abstract
Issues raised by assisted suicide and euthanasia are not new, and debates around those issues have a long and relatively well-known history in western Europe and north America. From Plato, Socrates, and the Stoics, to name a few early examples, to Thomas More, Francis Bacon, and Kant, and more recently Jean Paul Sartre, Frances Kamm, and Mary Warnock, there is a long tradition of philosophical thought on these topics. This contribution considers this history with two main aims. First, it reflects on the instances in which a form of existential suffering figures in the intellectual history of justifications for assisted dying. It argues that some of the definitional vagaries and inconsistencies of contemporary understandings of existential suffering are reflected in the diversity of its historical manifestations. Second, it considers the gender dimension of this question. While women often ‘suffer existentially’ or experience existential distress, women and their concerns are poorly represented in the intellectual history of assisted dying generally and of existential suffering as its justification in particular. This paper therefore seeks to offer a historically informed perspective on the gender dimension of existential suffering.
Event Title
Endings and Meanings: Existential Suffering in the 21st Century
Event Location
Collegium Helveticum
Event Date
8-9 April 2025
Division(s)
Additional Information
https://collegium.ethz.ch/events/fellow-year-2024-2025/endings-and-meanings?token=32248b284acf8c6c4bb39db2c736099ecaca71e6