The State of Wellbeing

Abstract

Chapter 6 reviewed the biological basis of happiness and wellbeing. This chapter focuses on justice and freedom when the process of dying has already begun. Freedom can be seen as the ability to decide for ourselves what happens in our lives without excessive constraints; that is, being in control. Of course, as social creatures, we are never totally free, even when we are not actively hindered from doing what we wish to do. The defining attributes of freedom have always collided with age old debates on the meaning and value of human life which, in the contemporary context, have fueled passionate discourse about the significance of abortion and euthanasia. Some of us contend that it would be morally wrong to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, or to give a lethal injection to a terminally ill patient, who wants to die quickly and without excessive pain. The pro-life proponents equate such acts as violating the principle of the sanctity of human life. Others maintain that such an inflexible stance is socially destabilizing because it is based on doubtful moral principles and inaccurate understanding of the power of modern medicine. Without a doubt, most of us genuinely believe that human life has special value and that it is wrong to wantonly destroy it except, evidently, in specific circumstances; such as killing in battle which is considered by many as a ‘sacred act’ (chapter 13 The Institution of War).

Caring control takes place when medical professionals or public health authorities refuse to act according to the patient’s wishes, or they restrict the patient’s freedom or in other ways attempt to influence the patient’s behavior, allegedly in the patient’s own best interest

Hayry, H. Individual Liberty and Medical Control. Ashgate, Aldershot, UK 1998; page 14.