Euthanasia as seen by Law, Morality and Religion

Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Law - Philosophy, History and Sociology of Law, grade: 80, University of Westminster (Commercial Law), course: Level 4, language: English, abstract: The terms meaning the killing of human beings, for their own good or that of others, havechanged out of all recognition since the ancient Greeks coined the term “eu thanatos” meaning “agood death.” Euthanasia, which is generally defined as the purposeful killing of a person for theirbenefit, provokes a number of moral, legal and religious questions. The questions and thecontradictory arguments that arise largely depend on the types of euthanasia: active and passive.Ambiguous difference between active and passive euthanasia requires analytical consideration. Theconventional doctrine is that there is such an important moral and religious difference between thetwo that, although the latter is sometimes permissible, the former is always forbidden. The overallpurpose of this paper is to have an in depth look into the religious norms, legal regulations andmoral principles concerning the issue of euthanasia and in the example of euthanasia find the onethat suits society, the one that does not leave aside the people that are vulnerable to any kind ofchanges and the one that eliminates opportunities for abuse of power by officials, religious leadersand doctors. [...]