The Ethics of Death: When Dying Well Enough is not Good Enough

Many theologians have written explicitly about euthanasia and regard it as an issue of paramount importance for their communities to address. Two of the most prominent theologians who have addressed the issues of euthanasia are Paul Ramsey (1931-1988) and Stanley Hauerwas (1940- ). Both men are Methodist theologians, and both were highly influenced by some of the most important thinkers in religious ethics, including Karl Barth and H. Richard Neibuhr. These thinkers and others had laid the groundwork for the kind of ethical analysis that Ramsey and Hauerwas have refined.