ABSTRACT
Euthanasia' comes from the Greek eu, meaning 'well' and 'easy', and thanatos, meaning 'death'. Active euthanasia involves an actual act of mercy killing. Passive euthanasia involves helping someone die, because it is judged that it is better for the person to be dead. Involuntary euthanasia occurs when it is impossible to get the patient's consent, perhaps, he or she has lost the ability to make a decision or is still an infant. Suicide is the deliberate termination of one's own life, and many people, not only those who are religious, are appalled that people could even think of choosing death over life. Henry Sidgwick said that only conscious beings can appreciate values and meanings, and so they see life as significant and part of some eternal plan, process or design. Joseph Fletcher's situation ethics stresses the fact that the ethical decision for any moral dilemma depends on the situation.
