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A History of Palliative Care, 1500-1970The Rise and Fall of Euthanasia Medica

A History of Palliative Care, 1500-1970: The Rise and Fall of Euthanasia Medica [This chapter shows, how the notion of “euthanasia medica” and the belief that it was the physician’s task to provide a “good” death resonated more and more in contemporary medical culture and reached a climax in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Numerous authors devoted chapters or entire books to the topic, detailing how torments of dying patients could be alleviated and their particular needs satisfied. This went along with widespread criticism of futile therapeutic zeal that risked leading to a “kako-” or “dysthanasia”, to a bad death rather than to a good one. The second part of the paper traces how this widespread appreciation of palliative medicine rapidly receded into the background from about 1850 onwards, due to a growing – and in retrospect largely unfounded − belief in the virtually unlimited possibilities of modern medicine.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A History of Palliative Care, 1500-1970The Rise and Fall of Euthanasia Medica

Part of the Philosophy and Medicine Book Series (volume 123)
Stolberg, Michael
Springer Journals — Apr 29, 2017
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8 pages

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Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017
ISBN
978-3-319-54177-8
Pages
89 –97
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-54178-5_5
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[This chapter shows, how the notion of “euthanasia medica” and the belief that it was the physician’s task to provide a “good” death resonated more and more in contemporary medical culture and reached a climax in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Numerous authors devoted chapters or entire books to the topic, detailing how torments of dying patients could be alleviated and their particular needs satisfied. This went along with widespread criticism of futile therapeutic zeal that risked leading to a “kako-” or “dysthanasia”, to a bad death rather than to a good one. The second part of the paper traces how this widespread appreciation of palliative medicine rapidly receded into the background from about 1850 onwards, due to a growing – and in retrospect largely unfounded − belief in the virtually unlimited possibilities of modern medicine.]

Published: Apr 29, 2017

Keywords: Eighteenth Century; Palliative Treatment; Early Nineteenth Century; Palliative Medicine; Sick Person

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