Mercy killing without consent. Historical comments on a controversial issue
- 1 February 1982
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
- Vol. 65 (2) , 134-141
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1982.tb00832.x
Abstract
In recent discussions on euthanasia the question about mercy killing without consent of mentally ill persons has turned up, particularly in cases of hopeless suffering among senile or chronically insane patients. Possible analogies to the actions under the German Nazi-regimen and relations to the concept of Social Darwinism with suggestions about active eugenic control as propagated in the early part of this century are outlined in a historical review. The implications and obvious dangers of misuse of any such kind of active euthanasia in psychiatry are discussed on this background.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Monists & Nazis: A Question of Scientific ResponsibilityHastings Center Report, 1975
- Darwinismus und ZeitgeistZeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte, 1962