Le droit de choisir sa mort : ultime liberté ? Regard philosophique sur les enjeux actuels liés à la fin de vie

The right to choose our death is often considered a fundamental manifestation of individual freedom required by the current social evolution. However, as inherently individual an event as death may be, it still remains a collective reality governed by essential rules and rituals. The ban of killing, preventing euthanasia and assisted suicide, is unquestionably a legal principle with anthropological value as the basis of the pact of care. Yet it sometimes seems difficult to reconcile respect for the dignity and freedom of the patient with obedience to this prohibition: should it still be considered absolute? Yes, if the ontological status of dignity is kept independent from any physical or mental damage and if freedom is never equated with pure control. Then it is possible to “respect life, accept death” as required by the Leonetti's law, today so threatened.