TY - JOUR AU - Malczewski, Jacek PY - 2004/12/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Francis Bacon: euthanasia or palliative care? JF - Diametros JA - Diametros VL - 0 IS - 2 SE - Articles DO - 10.13153/diam.2.2004.47 UR - https://diametros.uj.edu.pl/diametros/article/view/47 SP - 74-81 AB - <p>Francis Bacon’s program for modern medicine and its ethics, developed in <em>De Dignitate et Augmentis Scientiarum</em> (1623), includes the requirement that doctors alleviate the pain and suffering of terminally ill patients. Invoking the ancient idea of an “easy death”, Bacon calls this course of action “outward euthanasia”.</p><p>This article demonstrates that, contrary to widespread opinion, Bacon does not anticipate “Dutch-style” euthanasia or “mercy-killing”, but rather palliative care without the intentional termination of a patient’s life.</p> ER -