A pro tanto moral case for assisted death

Abstract

This chapter makes a pro tanto case for the moral permissibility of assisted death. It is pro tanto in the sense that my principal interest is the all else being equal moral evaluation of the dimension of assisted death that comprises one individual, who wishes to die with assistance, and another, who either grants or refuses to grant the former’s wish and who provides assistance or does not provide assistance respectively. Put another way, this is not a case for assisted death all things considered. I argue that, all else being equal, it is morally permissible for an agent to assist an individual to die just when their wish to die is autonomous and assisting their death is what an agent has most reason to do, where the latter is determined by the intrinsic values of the courses of action available to the agent in the individual’s regard."