<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This text focuses on selected basic arguments of libertarianism that could be found in certain debates on the moral issues of euthanasia and the application of moral fictionalism in bioethics. Firstly, I devote my article to the criticism of libertarian arguments (as one of the dominant discourses related to the debate over euthanasia) in a wider perspective of moral philosophy. The article is based on an approach that understands morality as a kind of social practice and the primary goal is to grasp the key theoretical concepts which are included in the mechanism for identifying and assessing our moral intuitions. This text is primarily an analysis of selected arguments of current normative theories of libertarianism on two levels: first it examines the idea of self-ownership in connection with certain debates over euthanasia, while the latter part of the article concerns an analysis of the critique of libertarian arguments and a comparison of the alternative arguments of moral fictionalism. The last part of this text, focusing on moral fictionalism and its general application in bioethics, is the core of the article.</p></abstract>

This text focuses on selected basic arguments of libertarianism that could be found in certain debates on the moral issues of euthanasia and the application of moral fictionalism in bioethics. Firstly, I devote my article to the criticism of libertarian arguments (as one of the dominant discourses related to the debate over euthanasia) in a wider perspective of moral philosophy. The article is based on an approach that understands morality as a kind of social practice and the primary goal is to grasp the key theoretical concepts which are included in the mechanism for identifying and assessing our moral intuitions. This text is primarily an analysis of selected arguments of current normative theories of libertarianism on two levels: first it examines the idea of self-ownership in connection with certain debates over euthanasia, while the latter part of the article concerns an analysis of the critique of libertarian arguments and a comparison of the alternative arguments of moral fictionalism. The last part of this text, focusing on moral fictionalism and its general application in bioethics, is the core of the article.

The limits of libertarianism in debates over euthanasia and the application of moral fictionalism in bioethics

Faculty of Science, Humanities and Education, Department of Philosophy

Ethics & Bioethics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This text focuses on selected basic arguments of libertarianism that could be found in certain debates on the moral issues of euthanasia and the application of...

The limits of libertarianism in debates over euthanasia and the application of moral fictionalism in bioethics

Published Online: Jun 12, 2020

Page range: 30 - 39

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2020-0004

Keywords
bioethics, euthanasia, liberalism, libertarianism, moral fictionalism, self-ownership

© 2020 Michal Trčka, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The limits of libertarianism in debates over euthanasia and the application of moral fictionalism in bioethics

Published Online: Jun 12, 2020

Page range: 30 - 39

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2020-0004

Keywordsbioethics, euthanasia, liberalism, libertarianism, moral fictionalism, self-ownership

© 2020 Michal Trčka, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
bioethics, euthanasia, liberalism, libertarianism, moral fictionalism, self-ownership