Doxit No9: Do You Need a Doctor?

Exit Podcast - The Good Death

Jul 2020

31 min 59 sec

This week's Doxit Podcast examines the topic of the medicalisation of death.

Whereas once a death was the domain of religion, and suicide was considered a sin against God, more recently the public discourse on suicide has medicalised the act, treating it as a mental illness. No rational person could ever wish to end their life, regardless of the reason. In this week's discussion, Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart question the semantics surrounding rational/ irrational suicide/ Voluntary Assisted Dying/ Medical Aid In Dying, drawing in particular on a recent article by Anita Hannig in the journal Cultural Anthropology (Vol. 34, Issue 1, pp. 53–77).

Podcast Episode