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Euthanasia: History

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Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics

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Abstract

This entry traces the origin and the shifting meanings of the term euthanasia and gives a brief overview of the attitudes towards and practices regarding euthanasia (understood as mercy killing) in different cultural contexts and throughout history. It discusses euthanasia in the Greek and Roman period, Christian responses to euthanasia, attitudes of world religions towards euthanasia and suicide, the role of renaissance and enlightenment, the origin of the proeuthanasia movement in the second half of the nineteenth century, and the German policy of nonvoluntary euthanasia preceding and during the Second World War. Recent developments (starting in the 1960s) are discussed elsewhere.

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References

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Further Readings

  • Benzenhöfer, U. (2010). Euthanasia in Germany before and during the Third Reich. Münster/Ulm: Klemm & Oelschläger.

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  • Kemp, N. D. A. (2002). Merciful release. The history of the British euthanasia movement. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

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  • Lavi, S. J. (2007). The modern art of dying: A history of euthanasia in the United States. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Bert Broeckaert

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  1. Bert Broeckaert
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Correspondence to Bert Broeckaert .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Duquesne University Center for Healthcare Ethics, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Henk ten Have

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© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Broeckaert, B. (2015). Euthanasia: History. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_180-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_180-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05544-2

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