[Living, life and quality of life]

Human life and quality of life are approached unitarily from their common root in living person, since only the person can claim them as rights and observe them as duties. The passage from the natural inclination to live towards the moral order is fulfilled from the ethical-ontological bridge-concept of human dignity. The absolute character of dignity means that life appears in the ethical realm as a duty prior to a right, both with regard to its care by the subject itself and its respect by others. This right-duty extends from life to the quality of life, since the living person always has a margin between personal living and the vital achievements it is capable of: this margin must be respected and promoted.