Death Anxiety, Immortality Projects and Happiness: A Utilitarian Argument Against the Legalization of Euthanasia
Published:
Sep 19, 2021
Keywords:
death anxiety euthanasia immortality projects The Denial of Death utilitarianism
Abstract
The current, utilitarian debate on the relation between euthanasia and happiness focusses primarily on the subject of dying patients. Where some utilitarians stress how euthanasia may relieve suffering in the process of dying, others emphasize the importance of respecting the autonomy of others to make decisions like these themselves. However, less attention has been paid to how legalizing euthanasia may impact the human decision-making processes of those still in a healthy and mentally sound state. This paper aims to shed light on this relatively underdeveloped subject within utilitarian theory. In particular, I focus on euthanasia’s most contested form: active, voluntary euthanasia. I draw on Ernst Becker, who argues that moderate death anxiety stimulates people to work on ‘immortality projects,’ decisions that help them cope with the concept of death. Subsequently, I draw on several studies to defend the notion that immortality projects are indirectly conducive to happiness because they stimulate healthy decisions and long-term, human progress. Additionally, immortality projects counterbalance decisions that are based on an excessive drive for short-term pleasure. As euthanasia can make dying less painful, I argue it may diminish death anxiety to significant degree, and thereby also an incentive to work on immortality projects. This brings me to the conclusion that legalizing euthanasia is problematic from a utilitarian point of view, considering the observation that immortality projects are indirectly conducive to happiness.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
van der Haak, D. (2021). Death Anxiety, Immortality Projects and Happiness: A Utilitarian Argument Against the Legalization of Euthanasia. Conatus - Journal of Philosophy, 6(1), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.12681/cjp.24316
- Section
- Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Angner, Erik, Jennifer Ghandhi, Kristen Williams Purvis, Daniel Amante, and Jeroan Allison. “Daily Functioning, Health Status, and Happiness in Older Adults.” Journal of Happiness Studies 14, no. 4 (2012): 1563-1574.
Becker, Ernst. The Denial of Death. New York: Free Press, 1973.
Bellaigue, Christopher. “Death on Demand: Has Euthanasia Gone Too Far?” The Guardian. January 18, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/18/death-on-demand-has-euthanasia-gone-too-far-netherlands-assisted-dying.
Bentham, Jeremy. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Ontario: Batoche Books, 2000.
Bioethics News. “Fear of Death Driving Push for Euthanasia, Says Medical Ethicist.” Bioethics Research Library. https://bioethics.georgetown.edu/2015/05/fear-of-death-driving-push-for-euthanasia-says-medical-ethicist/.
Boer, Theo A. “Report on Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide in the Netherlands.” https://www.pthu.nl/Over-PThU/Organisatie/Medewerkers/t.a.boer/downloads/2016-boer-south-africa-affidavit-euthanasia-netherlands.pdf.
Burke, Brian, Spee Kosloff, and Mark Landau. “Death Goes to the Polls: A Meta-Analysis of Mortality Salience Effects on Political Attitudes.” Political Psychology 34, no. 2 (2013): 183-200.
Davis, Alison. “A Disabled Person’s Perspective on Euthanasia.” Disability Studies Quarterly 24, no. 3 (2004), https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/512/689.
Dawkins, Richard. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009.
Devins, Gerald. “Death Anxiety and Voluntary Passive Euthanasia: Influences of Proximity to Death and Experiences with Death in Important Other Persons.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 47, no. 2 (1979): 301-309.
Furer, Patricia, and John Walker. “Death Anxiety: A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach.” Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy 22, no. 2 (2008): 167-182.
Grey, William. “Right to Die or Duty to Live? The Problem of Euthanasia.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 16, no. 1 (1999): 19-32.
Harris, N. M. “The Euthanasia Debate.” Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps 147, no. 3 (2001): 367-370.
Iverach, Lisa, Ross Menzies, and Rachel Menzies. “Death Anxiety and Its Role in Psychopathology: Reviewing the Status of a Transdiagnostic Construct.” Clinical Psychology Review 34, no. 7 (2014): 580-593.
Ly, Timothy, Mirella Diaz-Santos, Liam Campbell, Marcela Caldera, Taylor Kuhn, and Susan Bookheimer. “Death Anxiety and Financial Decision-Making in Aging: A Study from the Human Connectome Project Aging (HCP-A).” Innovation in Aging 3, no. 1 (2019): 907.
Mill, John Stuart. On Libery. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1859.
Noyes, Russel, Scott Stuart, Susan Longley, Douglas Langbehn, and Rachel Happel. “Hypochondriasis and Fear of Death.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 190, no. 8 (2002): 503-509.
Salt, Henry. “The Philosopher and the Pig.” The Vegetarian 9, no. 49 (1896): 585.
Sherwood, Harriet. “A Woman’s Final Facebook Message Before Euthanasia: ‘I’m Ready for my Trip Now...’” The Guardian. March 17, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/17/assisted-dying-euthanasia-netherlands.
Singer, Peter. “Voluntary Euthanasia: A Utilitarian Perspective.” Bioethics 17, no. 5-6 (2003): 526-541.
Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Sinoff, Gary. “Thanatophobia (Death Anxiety) in the Elderly: The Problem of the Child’s Inability To Assess Their Own Parent’s Death Anxiety State.” Frontiers in Medicine 4 (2017): 1-5.
Solomon, Sheldon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszcynski. “A Terror Management Theory of Social Behavior: The Psychological Functions of Self-Esteem and Cultural Worldviews.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 24, no. 93 (1991): 93-159.
Solomon, Sheldon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszcynski. The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. New York: Penguin Random House, 2015.
Tedeschi, Richard, and Lawrence Calhoun. “Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence.” Psychological Inquiry 15, no. 1 (2004): 1-18.
Vail, Kenneth, Jamie Arndt, Matt Motyl, and Tom Pyszcynski. “The Aftermath of Destruction: Images of Destroyed Buildings Increase Support for War, Dogmatism, and Death Thought Accessibility.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48, no. 5 (2012): 1069-1081.
