Euthanasia as a way of experiencing a good death

Abstract

The thesis shows that euthanasia (voluntary euthanasia in particular) can be a way to have a good dying experience before an impending death befalls terminally ill people experiencing unbearable suffering. It also strives to present the notion of a good death, which constitutes the needs and wants that people most often aim to satisfy at the end of their life in order to have a good dying experience. This thesis reveals that the notion of a good death can be summarized in a broader sense as a ‘managed’ death and voluntary euthanasia, which allows to control one’s dying experience, have a common overlapping element (the control of one’s dying experience) that unifies the notion of a good death and voluntary euthanasia.