Dual or Single Gauge? Govert Den Hartogh's ‘Dual-Track’ Assisted Death
Filosofie & Pratijk, Forthcoming
Faculty of Laws University College London Law Research Paper No. 04/2024
28 Pages Posted: 24 Jan 2024 Last revised: 7 Feb 2024
Date Written: January 22, 2024
Abstract
In What Kind of Death: The Ethics of Determining One’s Own Death (2023), Govert den Hartogh offers a ‘dual-track’ model for assisted death. According to Den Hartogh’s model, mere access to lethal drugs would be lawful on the basis of an autonomous decision (Track 1), while ‘full-blown physician-assisted death’ (provision of lethal means under professional supervision and care) would be lawful in the presence of an autonomous decision and satisfaction of further conditions instantiating values including dignity and well-being (Track 2). I offer a critical reading of Den Hartogh’s argument in respect of the nature and justification of Track 1. I argue that permitting mere access to lethal medication may be both ‘lifting a blockade’ (as Den Hartogh argues) and assisting an individual to die (as he denies). This conclusion about the nature of Track 1 opens the question of the sufficiency of Den Hartogh’s claim that autonomy is its sole normative ground. A revised account of the justification for Track 1 is possible, however. I argue that Track 1 assistance may be permissible on the same grounds as Den Hartogh provides for Track 2: autonomy in conjunction with other values (albeit in a different mix). Rather than conceive of Den Hartogh’s model for assisted death as ‘dual-track’, dual gauge, we might rather consider mere access to lethal drugs and full-blown physician assisted death as two services on a single normative gauge.
Note:
Funding Information: There are no external research grants to declare in support of this work.
Conflict of Interests: I declare no competing interests.
Keywords: assisted death, assisted dying, assisted suicide, euthanasia, Govert den Hartogh
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation