“Sanctity” and “Quality” of Life in a Historical-Comparative View (IN: Suicide and Euthanasia, ed. by S E Wallace and A Eser)

This chapter examines the “sanctity of life” approach & the “quality of life” approach with reference to capital punishment, abortion, suicide, & euthansia, & with particular reference to historical & legal aspects in Germany. The Carolina Code of 1532, developed in the age of Lutheran reformation, is compared to protection of life in comtemporary penal law. The focus is on the moral rationale behind the law, rather than its structural technicalities.