Frihet fra lidelse, individuell selvbestemmelsesrett og døden som kunstverk: Antegnelser til en antropologisk undersøkelse av assistert død = Freedom from suffering, individual autonomy, and dying as a work of art: notes towards an anthropology of assisted dying

Koksvik, G. (2017) Frihet fra lidelse, individuell selvbestemmelsesrett og døden som kunstverk: Antegnelser til en antropologisk undersøkelse av assistert død = Freedom from suffering, individual autonomy, and dying as a work of art: notes towards an anthropology of assisted dying. Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift, 28(3-4), pp. 236-249. (doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-2898-2017-03-04-06)

Abstract

Over the last century, death in western societies has undergone a process of medicalization. Critics claim that this has rendered death unnatural and devoid of meaning. Assisted dying, legal today in a handful of countries, is often portrayed as the natural next step for secular societies, and a common argument is to appeal to the individual’s dignity and autonomy. Suffering appears meaningless. In the rhetoric surrounding assisted dying, it comes across as the ethically sound alternative to an otherwise meaningless process of dying within the medical machinery. I aim to argue, however, that assisted dying is about a particular way of conceiving of death, and a wish for a particular type of dying, as well as a possible rediscovery of an ars moriendi in a secular, biomedicalized vein. Assisted dying is portrayed as the epitome of autonomy, yet it rests on a bureaucratic, institutionalized healthcare system, where the autonomous decision-making happens by way of administrative steps. In this sense, medicalization is continued and even broadened. New rituals and meanings occur in the wake of assisted dying, and to study both its rhetoric and practices has the potential to provide us with insights into central cultural values and ideals.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Koksvik, Dr Gitte
• Authors: Koksvik, G.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education > UGIEC / SCRE
• Journal Name: Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift
• Publisher: Scandinavian University Press
• ISSN: 0802-7285
• ISSN (Online): 1504-2898
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Author
• First Published: First published in Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift 28(3-4): 236-249
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License