Abstract

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to revisit the debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide through an analysis of the issue of suffering, which is one important element underpinning most requests for voluntary termination of a human life. The thesis aims at making a contribution by analyzing a specific type of suffering, which is described as "overwhelming unpleasant experience", and by reflecting on its ethical implications. Its contention is to develop a rationale supporting the view that there could be living states worse than death; to suggest criteria that could contribute to our understanding of how suicide may be rational and ethical; and to revisit why the legalization of voluntary termination of human life may be a reasonable option within the Canadian context, especially under the provisions made by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. ;Chapter 1 gives a historical overview of the debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide; reviews its status in other countries ; situates it within the Canadian legal context; and analyzes important events that occurred in the last decade. ;Chapter 2 develops an analysis of the suffering experience, which narrows the definition of suffering to an "overwhelming unpleasant experience". As a result, suffering's assertiveness on the sufferer's life becomes idiosyncratic and the implications of such an influence are analyzed. ;Chapter 3 discusses how the narrowed concept of suffering may be valued. It establishes that suffering may have three different values: intrinsically negative and instrumentally positive and negative. It is argued that suffering's instrumental value may be determined according to how the state affects the sufferer's "personhood". ;Chapter 4 analyzes the ethical implications of chapters 2 and 3. The ethical analysis is articulated within a consequentialist framework and the theoretical issues stemming from such an approach are discussed. ;Chapter 5 argues that, within the specific context of the debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide, the possible opposition between the right to self-determination and the right to life embedded in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms could be mediated by a right to die, which is an idea that may be supported by the arguments that stem from this thesis