Coordinates around the Reflection on Euthanasia. Sampedro Case Analysis

Abstract

This article attempts to bring into consideration and discussion the dignified death decision promoted by Ramón Sampedro. Based on his last confession and actions, after twenty-nine years of agony, the purpose is to analyze the case from two ethical theories: Kant’s theory and the ethics of care. The arguments of the first position, for instance, are supported on the fact that will is thought as independent from empirical conditions, must be determined solely by the formal aspect of the law, and is a condition for anything that is imperative. On the other hand, the ethics of care is based on the understanding of the world as a network of relationships and where the recognition of responsibility towards others emerges. As such, a critical reflection would make it possible to conceptualize the meaning of a minimally decent life, beyond the paternalism of dogmatic and universal discourses, by listening to the voices of suffering minorities.