The publication of Williams's euthanasia proposal plunged the medical profession into much turmoil, discussion, and debate. In the mid to late 17th century, a man named Samuel Williams suggested the first proposals of intentionally ending a patient’s life by using anesthetics and morphine. Views on Euthanasia settled for a while, only to resurface in the 19th century with the revolution of what is known today as anesthesia. Increasing Christian presence served to reinforce the Hippocratic position on euthanasia. Its acceptance was challenged by the ‘minority of physicians’ who were part of what was known the Hippocratic School. Įuthanasia was common in ancient Greece and Rome. Voluntary (When the person who is killed has requested to be killed), non-voluntary (When the person who is killed made no request and gave no consent), involuntary (When the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary), By-Action (Intentionally causing a person's death by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection), and By-Omission Euthanasia (Intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary, usual and customary, care or food and water) are several of an array of society’s attempts to bring to light a more concrete form of the name ( Euthanasia Definitions, 2006). posts several of these, displaying the term Euthanasia on its own as a word, is not nearly as concise or expanded enough as it should be considering the implications and repercussions it can have. As societal views on understanding Euthanasia have changed, the word had many prefixed words attached to it, helping each one establish a more clear definition. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary technically defines it as, “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy” ( Euthanasia, 2006).
The historical meaning of Euthanasia is of Greek origin and the root-word, Euthanatos, or easy death. The Hippocratic Oath (By the "Father of Medicine' Greek physician Hippocrates)Īs one of the top moral, ethical, and politically charged debates of our time, the term Euthanasia has come to have many different meanings to individuals, and is thus ambiguous at best.
“I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel”.Ībout 400 B.C. The morality of Euthanasia is solely dependent on the individual ethics and belief system of physician and patient families, and is therefore not dependant on a global or societal view of the issue.