1. Alzheimer's disease and euthanasia.
- Author
-
Alvargonzález D
- Subjects
- Aged, Alzheimer Disease psychology, Caregivers ethics, Caregivers legislation & jurisprudence, Caregivers psychology, Character, Depersonalization diagnosis, Depersonalization psychology, Dissociative Disorders diagnosis, Dissociative Disorders psychology, Humans, Patient Advocacy ethics, Patient Advocacy legislation & jurisprudence, Personal Autonomy, Personhood, Quality of Life legislation & jurisprudence, Quality of Life psychology, Resilience, Psychological, Right to Die ethics, Right to Die legislation & jurisprudence, Social Isolation psychology, Social Values, Suicide, Assisted legislation & jurisprudence, United States, Alzheimer Disease diagnosis, Ethics, Medical, Suicide, Assisted ethics
- Abstract
Employing the tenets of philosophical materialism, this paper discusses the ethical debate surrounding assisted suicide for persons suffering end-stage Alzheimer's. It first presents a classification of the dissociative situations between "human individual" and "human person". It then moves on to discuss challenges to diagnosed persons and their caregivers in relation to the cardinal virtues of Spinozistic ethics--strength of character (fortitudo), firmness (animositas) and generosity (generositas). Finally, a number of ideas attached to the debate--"right of choice", "death with dignity", "quality of life" and "compassion in dying"--are discussed in order to clarify their foundations., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2012
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