Razprava o dostojanstveni smrt. (Slovenian)

A Discussion on Death with Dignity. (English)

The word dignity is used in various ways in ethical debates on end-of- -life dilemmas. Both proponents and opponents of euthanasia often justify their positions by referring to the dignity of the human person. We will summarise the historical development of the use of the concept of dignity and show its relevance in contemporary debates. We believe that the diversity of usage is not a reason to abandon the notion of dignity, but rather a stimulus for terminological clarification. In the last five years, a new wave of legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia has swept Europe. In this article, we will first outline the developments in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and then comment on the main elements of the Slovenian proposal for a law on assisted voluntary end-of-life, which has been tabled for parliamentary consideration. We will touch upon the relationship between the notions of dignity and autonomy of the individual. The dignity of a person is often based on the individual’s ability to make autonomous decisions about himself, forgetting the social and relational embeddedness of any autonomous decision-making. We therefore consider the notion of relational autonomy to be appropriate. We advocate the primacy of an intrinsic notion of dignity, which is the foundation for unconditional respect for every human person. In the dying phase, a person does not lose his or her dignity, but respect for his or her dignity obliges us to respect his or her autonomy, to listen to his or her wishes regarding the forms and methods of treatment, and to provide him or her with comprehensive support and care in the last stages of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beseda dostojanstvo se v etičnih razpravah o dilemah ob koncu življenja uporablja na različne načine. Tako zagovorniki kot tudi nasprotniki evtanazije svoja stališča pogosto utemeljujejo s sklicevanjem na dostojanstvo človeške osebe. Povzeli bomo zgodovinski razvoj uporabe pojma dostojanstvo in pokazali na njegovo aktualnost v sodobnih razpravah. Menimo, da razlike v njegovi uporabi niso razlog za opustitev pojma dostojanstvo, ampak spodbuda za terminološko razjasnitev. V zadnjih petih letih je Evropo zajel nov val legalizacije pomoči pri samomoru in evtanazije. V prispevku bomo najprej predstavili dogajanje v Avstriji, Nemčiji, Italiji, Španiji in na Portugalskem ter se opredelili do temeljnih postavk slovenskega predloga Zakona o pomoči pri prostovoljnem končanju življenja, ki je vložen v parlamentarno obravnavo. Dotaknili se bomo tudi razmerja med pojmoma dostojanstvo in avtonomija posameznika. Dostojanstvo osebe se velikokrat utemeljuje na zmožnosti posameznika, da samostojno odloča o sebi, pri tem pa se pozablja na družbeno in odnosno vpetost vsakega avtonomnega odločanja. Zato se nam zdi ustrezno pojmovanje odnosne avtonomije. Zagovarjamo primat intrinzičnega pojmovanja dostojanstva – kot temelj za brezpogojno spoštovanje vsake človeške osebe. V fazi umiranja človek dostojanstva ne izgublja, ampak nas prav spoštovanje njegovega dostojanstva zavezuje, da upoštevamo njegovo avtonomijo, da prisluhnemo njegovih željam glede oblik in načina zdravljenja – in da mu v zadnjem obdobju življenja nudimo vsestransko podporo in oskrbo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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