Anthropologies of Hope and Despair: Disability and the Assisted-Suicide Debate

The physical criteria that determine who is and who is not eligible for assisted suicide imply that some lives-such as lives with disability-are less "objectively" worthwhile than others. Besides being degrading and discriminatory, this view is self-deceived. Aging makes both the nondisabl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of disability & religion
Main Author: Elliot, David 1978- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2018]
In: Journal of disability & religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 22, Issue: 3, Pages: 352-367
Further subjects:B Disability
B end of life
B Assisted Suicide
B Misanthropy
B Dying
B Hope
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:The physical criteria that determine who is and who is not eligible for assisted suicide imply that some lives-such as lives with disability-are less "objectively" worthwhile than others. Besides being degrading and discriminatory, this view is self-deceived. Aging makes both the nondisabled and disabled prone over time to experience increasingly serious disabilities, from impaired mobility to hearing loss. Anthropologies that undermine life with disability therefore undermine our humanity as such, risking self-hatred and misanthropy. As an alternative to this anthropology of despair, the author considers hopeful models affirmed by disability rights activists and by Christian theology.
ISSN:2331-253X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of disability & religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/23312521.2018.1486774