- Inviolability
In
religion andethics , inviolability or sanctity of life is a principle of implied protection regarding aspects of sentient life which are said to be holy, sanctified, or otherwise of such value that they are not to be violated.The concept of inviolability is an important tie between the ethics of religion and the ethics of law, as each seeks justification for its principles as based on both purity and natural concept, as well as in universality of application.
anctity of life
The phrase "sanctity of life" refers to the idea that life is
sacred , argued mainly by thepro-life side in political and moral debates over such controversial issues asabortion ,contraception ,euthanasia , and the "right to die " in theUnited States ,United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries. (Comparable phrases are used in other languages.) Although the phrase was used primarily in the 19th century in Protestant discourse, after World War II the phrase has been appropriated for Roman Catholicmoral theology and, followingRoe v. Wade , evangelical moral rhetoric. [cite book|author=Drutchas, Geoffrey Gilbert|title=Is Life Sacred? The Incoherence of the Sanctity of Life as a Moral Principle within the Christian Churches|publisher=Lancaster Theological Seminary|date=1996]In contrast to the
consistent life ethic ,Fact|date=May 2007 the sanctity of life principle is usually reserved for non-criminal human beings.Fact|date=September 2008 Critics argue that the sanctity of life principle is undermined by its inconsistencies—in particular its support of thedeath penalty and lack of support foranimal rights andvegetarianism .In Western thought, sanctity of life is usually applied solely to the human species (
anthropocentrism , sometimes calleddominionism ), in marked contrast to many schools ofEastern philosophy , which often hold that all animal life is sacred―in some cases to such a degree that, for example, practitioners ofJain carry brushes with which to sweep insects from their path, lest they inadvertently tread upon them.Sanctity of life is a "plank" in the platforms of conservative parties in the United States such as the Republican Party and the Constitution Party.
ee also
*
Right to life
*Medical ethics elected bibliography
*cite book|author=Barry, Robert Laurence|title=The Sanctity of Human Life and Its Protection|location=Lanham|publisher=University Press of America|date=2002
*Bayertz, Kurt. Sanctity of Life and Human Dignity, Philosophy and Medicine. V. 52. Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1996.
*cite book|author=Bernardin, Joseph Louis, and Thomas Gerhard Feuchtmann|title=Consistent Ethic of Life|location=Kansas City, MO|publisher=Sheed & Ward|year=1988
*cite book|author=Keyserlingk, Edward W.|title=Sanctity of Life: Or, Quality of Life in the Context of Ethics, Medicine, and Law: A Study, Protection of Life Series|location=Ottawa|publisher=Law Reform Commission of Canada|year=1979
*Kass, Leon R. "Death with Dignity and the Sanctity of Life." Commentary 89 Mr 1990 (1990): 33-43.
*cite book|author=Kohl, Marvin|title=The Morality of Killing; Sanctity of Life, Abortion, and Euthanasia|location=New York|publisher=Humanities Press|year=1974
*cite book|author=Kuhse, Helga|title=The Sanctity-of-Life Doctrine in Medicine: A Critique|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1987
*cite journal|author=McCormick, Richard A.|title=The Quality of Life and the Sanctity of Life|journal= In How Brave a New World?|pages=383–402|location=New York|publisher=Doubleday|year=1981
*cite book|author=Peter Singer|title="Unsanctifying Human Life"
*Wildes, Kevin Wm, Francesc Abel, and John Collins Harvey. "Birth, Suffering, and Death: Catholic Perspectives at the Edges of Life". Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992.References
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