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Pojęcieirodzajeeutanazji
Theconceptofeuthanasiaanditsdifferenttypes
Summary
Theterm“euthanasia”hasbeenchangingitsmeaningthroughoutthecenturies.
Etymologically“euthanasia”comesfromGreekandmeans“gooddeath”.Inantiquity
aquickandpainlessdeathwasconsideredtobeagoodone.Thetermwasnothow-
everassociatedwithsuicide.ItwasonlytheStoicswhostartedtousethetermtode-
scribetheendingofawiseman’slifeinanappropriatewayandattherightmoment
thisalsoincludedthesuicidethen.Doctorsandphilosophersinthe16
th
,17
th
and
18
th
centuriesunderstoodeuthanasiaastheprocessofnaturaldeaththroughillness,
whichshouldbeemployedbydoctorsintheformofsymptomtreatmentandpsy-
chologicalsupportgiventoeveryillpersontillhislastday.Inthesecondhalfofthe
19
th
centuryeuthanasiastartedtobedefinedasactivehelpofferedtotheillperson
athisrequest,whoseaimwastoliberatehimfromthesufferingofdying.Theterms:
activeandpassiveeuthanasiaintheirpresentmeaningwereforthefirsttimeused
in1884byB.Fey.Howeverthedefiningofeuthanasiaasthekillingofillpersons
startedtodominateaftertheappearanceofeugenicattitudes.
Differentsourcespresentdifferentdefinitionsofeuthanasia,emphasisingonly
somecommonelementswhicharenecessarytoexplainthatterm.Inmostcases
theelementofcompassionorotherformsofhighermotivationarebeingstressed.
Itseemsthatfromthecriminallawpointofviewthesimplestandatthesame
timethemostcompletedefinitionofeuthanasiaistheoneinwhichitmeanskill-
ingamanathisrequestandundertheinfluenceofcompassionforthesuffering
victim.Suchadefinitionusesthesameterminologyasthelawmakerusedtope-
nalisesuchabehaviour.
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