[Philosophic and medical aspects of palliative care and the problems of euthanasia]

The attitude of the society to the problem of euthanasia remains ambiguous from both moral and legal viewpoints. The authors review the attitudes of well-known philosophers, historians, and writers to the man's right for peaceful dying, and analyze various points of view on the problems of euthanasia. The article analyses ethical problems of palliative care as active care for a dying patient and his/her family. The philosophy of modern palliative medicine must favor the realization of the right for a peaceful death. The authors of the article consider palliative care for the dying to be an alternative to euthanasia.