One of the strongest philosophical debates still going round since ancient Greece is the concept of personhood; when does a person starts being a person and when does a person stops being one? Personhood requires breaking down an abstract and complex idea into simple 'tangible' parts. This will give a better understanding of the relationship between euthanasia and personhood which this feature seeks to address whilst providing different perspectives on the matter.

What is a person?

The word Persona has its origins in the Etruscan Phersu and the Greek Prosopon. In its Latin form, it originally referred to a theatrical mask or character played by an actor.

The concept of person is very much used in the field of law, which refers to the entity capable of acquiring rights and obligations and from psychology where the person is referred to as a human individual, covering both the physical and psychic to define a person's character and uniqueness.

A person is defined by his/her relationships with family, friends, community, the nation and the universe. Still, a person raised in isolation is still a person as he/she can join society.

A person has a physical body, a rational mind, a morality, identity, a spirit and human DNA. A person is also a cultural or social construct in different cultures. A social construct can also be viewed as part of the philosophical debate that explores the extent to which our identity is shaped by genetics versus the influence of our social environment - commonly known as the nature vs nurture debate.

The self

The self is more of the psychological aspect of the person as an autonomous agent with a knowledge structure and the ability to reflect and choose. The self has to do with how the individual thinks; his/her mindset, the critical thinking skills and what is done autonomously through self-determination.

The self is therefore, a very individualistic perspective, very much prevalent in Western society. It is excluding others to the extent of what I can do without the help of others. It is the entire library of how much of myself I know and how much I am aware of my beliefs, feelings, attitudes, and values. It also has to do with how I communicate with others.

The so-called books of the self are the "I" statements that create the "me" or the self-concept (for example, I am, I like, I value, I believe and I feel). The combination of the "I am's" also help the person to evaluate a reaction to an emotion, such as when feeling anger or frustration; how shall I react? Should my emotions take over and or should I restrain myself through self-control (emotional regulation)?

The Greek equivalent of self is the word "Auto" as in automatic, autograph, autopilot, autocracy, autoimmune and autotroph.

Personhood

Since the definition of a person is conditioned by the culture of a place, different perspectives or worldviews exist to determine when personhood starts and when it ceases. Personhood and person are philosophical and moral terms, and the discipline of bioethics deals with issues such as: does a person cease to be a person because the cognitive criteria (for example, consciousness, reasoning and initiative-taking activity) are no longer present? There were times in history when those who upheld slavery considered persons of colour as non-persons. The recent Black Lives Matter reawakened and reminded us of the discriminatory treatment between persons of different skin colours.

Euthanasia

The term euthanasia is derived from the Greek words "good death". It is characterised as directly or indirectly bringing about the death of another person for that person's benefit.

Active euthanasia in Malta is illegal and assisting a suicide is a crime punishable by up to 12 years in prison. Across Europe there are six countries which have some form of legalised assisted dying: Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Austria and helping persons to die is not restricted to the terminally ill.

In Canada, to cite one example of the growing number of euthanasia cases, the country's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) was used by roughly 15,300 people to end their own lives, making it the fifth leading cause of death in 2023 and representing a 16% increase over the previous year.

During November 2024, the British Parliament voted to continue toward the legislation of assisted suicide pointing to the fact that the UK will join the list of Western nations that allow doctors to help people end their own lives.

It is difficult to draw the line on when personhood commences as not everyone agrees on the when. The person passes through different life stages (embryo, baby, child, adult, fully functioning adult). Science and psychology have mainly concluded that a new person is present once sperm fertilizes the egg; that initial mass of cells has its unique DNA.

Moreover, psychologists illustrate this assertion by stating that while still in the environment of the womb, personality is being formed. What the mother passes through during those nine months, such as trauma, addictions or an unhealthy diet, is affecting future personhood. This also applies to what the mother and others say and do in the presence of the mother.

Another underlying social debate is whether a brain-dead person is still a person. Some reason that since the person is still alive then he/she is still a person and needs protection and life sustaining measures in as much as we protect plants, animals and the environment. Moreover, once a person is still alive whether brain dead or not, the person has a spirit, and that spirit is also alive.

In Bioethics, Principles, Issues, and Cases by Lewis Vaughn, 2010, it is stated that more so than most other issues in bioethics, the morality of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is tangled with legal and policy debates.

Since humans are free moral agents having the right to self-determination, they have the sacrosanct right to freely choose whether to end his/her life. But it is not the same with every country. Some countries legally protect the sanctity of life and consider it wrong to intentionally harm someone (causing death).

From a philosophical perspective the German philosopher Kant's theory (1724-1804) is that suicide is prohibited because it treats persons as mere things and obliterates personhood. Using Kant's perspective, persons are still persons even if they are into a persistent vegetative state and should be kept alive at all costs, rather than opting for a utilitarian approach.

The Christian view

From a Christian perspective, hoping against hope, prayers and miracles for the terminally ill are still considered relevant, with Christians quoting and applying Biblical verses of healing and hope such as those found in Isaiah 42:2 "A bruised reed He will not break and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out" and Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs will accompany those who believe... they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well".

The delicate issue of ending life was aptly summed up by President Donald Trump. When Trump was last in Office, a proclamation marking the 22 January 1973 (the day Roe vs. Wade was decided), a National Sanctity of Human Life by pro-life supporters was declared. The proclamation stated "Restoring a culture of respect for the sacredness of life is fundamental to solving our country's most pressing problems. When each person is treated as a beloved child of God, individuals can reach their full potential, communities will flourish, and America will be a place of even greater hope and freedom".

A 'slippery slope' argument

It is no secret that we are living in a culture where death and addictions are prevalent (abortions, suicides, legal marijuana, other drugs and euthanasia).

There are those who argue that legalising euthanasia can lead to abuse and unjustified killing such as not giving the appropriate medication to hasten the death process, especially in cases where patients are not medically insured or due to the prohibitive costs of medication for chronically ill patients.

The argument is that by making it legal for medical doctors to help certain patients end their lives, vulnerable people will die in disproportionately large numbers, especially where the ageing population is increasing in size.

Is the world descending on a slippery slope back to the times of Nazism when about 200,000 persons with disabilities were murdered under the T4 Programme, which was the precursor to the Holocaust? Are we repeating history in a tragic déjà vu fashion?

Only time will tell...