Foot Euthanasia
Euthanasia
Author(s): Philippa Foot
Source: Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Winter, 1977), pp. 85-112
Published by: Wiley
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2264937 .
Accessed: 18/04/2014 22:06
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PHILIPPA FOOT
Euthanasia
The widely used Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives three meanings for the word "euthanasia": the first, "a quiet and easy death"; the second, "the means of procuring this"; and the third, "the action of inducing a quiet and easy death." It is a curious fact that no one of the three gives an adequate definition of the word as it is usually understood. For "euthanasia" means much more than a quiet and easy death, or the means of procuring it, or the action of inducing it. The definition specifies only the manner of the death, and if this were all that was implied a murderer, careful to drug his victim, could claim that his act was an act of euthanasia. We find this ridiculous because we take it for granted that in euthanasia it is death itself, not just the manner of death, that must be kind to the one who dies.
To see how important it is that "euthanasia" should not be used as the dictionary definition allows it to be used, merely to signifiy that a death was quiet and easy, one has
Author(s): Philippa Foot
Source: Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Winter, 1977), pp. 85-112
Published by: Wiley
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2264937 .
Accessed: 18/04/2014 22:06
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
Wiley is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Philosophy &Public Affairs.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 66.194.72.152 on Fri, 18 Apr 2014 22:06:21 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
PHILIPPA FOOT
Euthanasia
The widely used Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives three meanings for the word "euthanasia": the first, "a quiet and easy death"; the second, "the means of procuring this"; and the third, "the action of inducing a quiet and easy death." It is a curious fact that no one of the three gives an adequate definition of the word as it is usually understood. For "euthanasia" means much more than a quiet and easy death, or the means of procuring it, or the action of inducing it. The definition specifies only the manner of the death, and if this were all that was implied a murderer, careful to drug his victim, could claim that his act was an act of euthanasia. We find this ridiculous because we take it for granted that in euthanasia it is death itself, not just the manner of death, that must be kind to the one who dies.
To see how important it is that "euthanasia" should not be used as the dictionary definition allows it to be used, merely to signifiy that a death was quiet and easy, one has