[The Value and Dignity of Terminal Life. Philosophical Prolegomena for a Critique of Euthanasia]

The attitude we adopt towards the lawfulness of euthanasia depends on our position on the value and dignity of the life of the terminal ill patient. Contemporary moral debates lacks of a shared basic position, but it is not impossible to discuss. On human dignity there are two attitudes. For one of them, dignity depends on maintaining of one decisive quality, as autonomy, autodetermination or lack of intense suffering. For the other conception of dignity, it does not depend on any attribute of human life. Sufferance is not a refutation of dignity. This second idea of dignity is more correct in philosophical terms. Anyway, the difference between law and moral must be taken into account.