| Summary: | This report is submitted by the above Candidate to The Steve Biko Centre for
Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand, in the above year in part fulfilment of the
requirements for the Masters degree in Bioethics & Health Law === This research report aims to assess the meaning of dignity in philosophy and the law and
apply this interpretation to allow for the permission of euthanasia in South Africa. Appeals to
dignity used by both those in favour of and opposed to euthanasia are deliberated. Theories of
dignity and its applications in South African Law are outlined followed by a classification of
dignity as either intrinsic or extrinsic. Interpretations of this overview forms the basis of my
argument that human beings have extrinsic dignity, derived from an inherent, intrinsic dignity
that can be extended to include the right to die with dignity. I conclude by claiming that at the
end-of-life, a terminally ill, cognitively unimpaired person should be allowed to choose death
by euthanasia. I support this claim by arguing that the loss of extrinsic dignity in such
situations can reasonably outweigh the value of one’s own intrinsic dignity. === MT2016
|
|---|
