THE CONCEPT OF RESPONSIBILITY IN LÉVINAS: THE LIMITS BETWEEN DYSTHANASIA AND PALLIATIVE CARE

Abstract

Abstract: Nowadays, there is a high prevalence chronic diseases with no possibility cure, which are accompanied by a significant reduction in the patient’s quality life. Palliative care aims to provide the patient with physical and emotional comfort in the end life. At times when PC are neglected in some way and cease to be fully exercised, dysthanasia can occur — procedures that only prolong the process dying. Emmanuel Lévinas’s reflection is characterized by the development a First Philoso­phy project, which addresses a new understanding human subjectivity by valuing ethics to the detriment fundamental ontology. This project aims to present the concept responsibility in Emmanuel Lévinas and its application in the study the limits palliative care in order to avoid dysthanasic medical procedures.

Keywords: Bioethics. Social Responsibility. Palliative Care. End-Life Care. Physician-patient relations.