Title: Chapter 5 - The Ethical Debate
Headings: Chapter 5 - The Ethical Debate
Chapter 5 - The Ethical Debate
Content: Each category groups together diverse views in order    to provide an overview of a debate marked by complex and nuanced    positions. page 78   WHEN DEATH IS SOUGHT     debate, ranging from Plato and Aristotle in ancient Greece to   Augustine and Thomas Aquinas in the Middle Ages, and Locke, Hume,   and Kant in more modern times. ( 2)    Some views and practices surrounding suicide were rooted in   particular cultures and beliefs that have little relevance for   contemporary society. For example, in the warrior society of the   Vikings, only those who died violently could enter paradise, or   Valhalla. The greatest honor was death in battle; suicide was the   second best alternative. ( 3) Likewise, the ancient Scythians believed   that suicide was a great honor when individuals became too old for   their nomadic way of life, thereby sparing the younger members of   the tribe the burden of carrying or killing them. In other eras and   civilizations, the debate about suicide touched on values that   influenced the course of Western thought and still resonate to   contemporary perspectives on suicide. The word "euthanasia" derives from Greek, although as used in   ancient Greece, the term meant simply "good death," not the practice   of killing a person for benevolent motives. ( 4) In ancient Greece,   euthanasia was not practiced, and suicide itself was generally   disfavored. (