Editing Euthanasia (section)

=== Early modern period ===
The term ''euthanasia'', in the earlier sense of supporting someone as they died, was used for the first time by [[Francis Bacon]]. In his work, ''Euthanasia medica'', he chose this ancient Greek word and, in doing so, distinguished between ''euthanasia interior'', the preparation of the soul for death, and ''euthanasia exterior'', which was intended to make the end of life easier and painless, in exceptional circumstances by shortening life. That the ancient meaning of an easy death came to the fore again in the [[early modern period]] can be seen from its definition in the 18th century [[Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon Aller Wissenschafften und Künste|''Zedlers Universallexikon'']]:

<blockquote>Euthanasia: a very gentle and quiet death, which happens without painful convulsions. The word comes from ευ, ''bene'', well, and θανατος, ''mors'', death.<ref>''Zedlers Universallexikon'', Vol. 08, p. 1150, published 1732–54.</ref></blockquote>

The concept of euthanasia in the sense of alleviating the process of death goes back to the medical historian [[Karl Friedrich Heinrich Marx]], who drew on Bacon's philosophical ideas. According to Marx, a doctor had a moral duty to ease the suffering of death through encouragement, support and mitigation using medication. Such an "alleviation of death" reflected the contemporary ''[[zeitgeist]]'', but was brought into the medical canon of responsibility for the first time by Marx. Marx also stressed the distinction of the theological care of the soul of sick people from the physical care and medical treatment by doctors.<ref>{{NDB|16|327|328|Marx, Karl, Mediziner|Markwart Michler|116814357}}</ref><ref>Helge Dvorak: ''Biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft.'' Vol. I, Sub-vol. 4, Heidelberg, 2000, pp. 40–41.</ref>

Euthanasia in its modern sense has always been strongly opposed in the [[Judeo-Christian]] tradition. [[Thomas Aquinas]] opposed both and argued that the practice of euthanasia contradicted our natural human instincts of survival,<ref>[http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000130 "Historical Timeline: History of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide,"] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120705164631/http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000130 |date=5 July 2012 }} Euthanasia – ProCon.org. Last updated on: 23 July 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2014.</ref> as did Francois Ranchin (1565–1641), a French physician and professor of medicine, and Michael Boudewijns (1601–1681), a physician and teacher.<ref name="stolberg"/>{{rp|208}}<ref name="Gesundheit2006p623">{{cite journal | last1 = Gesundheit | first1 = Benjamin | last2 = Steinberg | first2 = Avraham | last3 = Glick | first3 = Shimon | last4 = Or | first4 = Reuven | last5 = Jotkovitz | first5 = Alan | year = 2006 | title=  Euthanasia: An Overview and the Jewish Perspective | journal = [[Cancer Investigation]] | volume = 24 | doi = 10.1080/07357900600894898 | pmid = 16982468 | issue = 6 | pages = 621–9 | s2cid = 8906449 }}</ref> Other voices argued for euthanasia, such as [[John Donne]] in 1624,<ref>{{cite journal | last = Mannes | first = Marya | year = 1975 | title = Euthanasia vs. the Right to Life | journal = Baylor Law Review | volume = 27 | page = 69 }}</ref> and euthanasia continued to be practised. In 1678, the publication of Caspar Questel's ''De pulvinari morientibus non-subtrahend'', ("''On the pillow of which the dying should not be deprived''"), initiated debate on the topic. Questel described various customs which were employed at the time to hasten the death of the dying, (including the sudden removal of a pillow, which was believed to accelerate death), and argued against their use, as doing so was "against the laws of God and Nature".<ref name="stolberg"/>{{rp|209–211}} This view was shared by others who followed, including Philipp Jakob Spener, Veit Riedlin and [[Johann Georg Krünitz]].<ref name="stolberg"/>{{rp|211}} Despite opposition, euthanasia continued to be practised, involving techniques such as bleeding, suffocation, and removing people from their beds to be placed on the cold ground.<ref name="stolberg"/>{{rp|211–214}}

Suicide and euthanasia became more accepted during the [[Age of Enlightenment]].<ref name="Gesundheit2006p623" /> [[Thomas More]] wrote of euthanasia in ''[[Utopia (More book)|Utopia]]'', although it is not clear if More was intending to endorse the practice.<ref name="stolberg"/>{{rp|208–209}} Other cultures have taken different approaches: for example, in Japan suicide has not traditionally been viewed as a sin, as it is used in cases of honor, and accordingly, the perceptions of euthanasia are different from those in other parts of the world.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Otani | first = Izumi | year = 2010 | title = "Good Manner of Dying" as a Normative Concept: "Autocide", "Granny Dumping" and Discussions on Euthanasia/Death with Dignity in Japan | journal = International Journal of Japanese Sociology | volume = 19 | issue = 1 | doi = 10.1111/j.1475-6781.2010.01136.x | pages = 49–63 }}</ref>