The Sanctity of Life Doctrine in Medicine: a Critique

Abstract

Unprecedented advances in medicine's ability to sustain life raise troubling questions of whether all human lives, irrespective of quality or kind, should always be prolonged, or whether there are times when a patient should be allowed - or helped - to die. In this book, which examines the ideas and assumptions behind this view, Helga Kuhse argues against the traditional view that allowing someone to die is morally different from killing, and shows that quality-of-life judgements are ubiquitous. The author urges us to reject the sanctity-of-life view and provides a sketch of a quality-of-life ethics based on the belief that there is a profound difference between merely being alive and life being in a patient's interest. The book is a comprehensive critique of the "sanctity-of-life" doctrine in medicine. It shows that the doctrine is flawed and leads to indefensible practical consequences - such as the making of life and death decisions on morally irrelevant grounds. Philosophers with a particular interest in ethics, doctors, and theologians should all find the book of interest.