He has never made a secret of his support for the legalization of euthanasia. In his latest book, La Clé des champs and other impromptu (PUF, 288 pages, 16 euros), André Comte-Sponville dwells at length on this subject, he who sits on the honorary committee of the Association for the right to die with dignity (ADMD) and who was a member member of the National Ethics Advisory Council from 2008 to 2016. Michèle Lévy-Soussan, doctor in charge of the mobile support and palliative care unit at Pitié-Salpêtrière (Paris 13e), co-facilitator of the ethical support unit Pitié-Salpêtrière-Sorbonne University, has been working alongside end-of-life patients for more than twenty years; she attends the work of the citizens’ convention as a researcher-observer. Refusing a dogmatic approach to this sensitive subject, she questions what might be the “just care” in the most critical situations, with the compass of listening and respectful accompaniment of the patient.
André Comte-Sponville, you who are in favor of the legalization of euthanasia, what do you say to those who oppose the “right to die” to the “duty to live”?
André Comte-Sponville: I will answer them that life is not a duty but a right! And remember from the outset that the right to live is more important than the right to die. It goes without saying that the urgency is to help live those who want it, who are the vast majority, and not to help die the few who can no longer bear existence. However, these two rights are not mutually exclusive. We have the right to end our lives. Almost all non-religious philosophers agree on this point, in antiquity as today: suicide is a human right. Of course, life is worth it. But since death is part of life, we have no choice whether to die or not. On the other hand, we sometimes have the choice of the moment and the modalities of his death; I don’t see why we should be deprived of this right.
It’s not a matter of dignity. The Association for the Right to Die with Dignity is fighting a fair fight but is mistaken regarding the vocabulary. Since all human beings are equal in rights and dignity, the dying of course has the same dignity as you and me who are, for the moment, in good health. It is not a question of dignity but of freedom. Supreme freedom? No: the freedom to live is more precious, but ultimate freedom. Why should I give it up?
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