Denial of the Soul

M. Scott Peck, 1997, Denial of the Soul: Spiritual and Medical Perspectives on Euthanasia and Mortality, London: Simon & Schuster

Psychiatrist Scott Peck examines the issues of euthanasia and the culture of fear of our mortality. He makes some interesting points which he illustrates from his medical experience.

He writes,

"While it is not necessarily our lot in this age that we should suffer physically to the end of our endurance, it is still our lot that we should so suffer emotionally. The denial of this fact of life is the central defect of the age."

Death is not just the dead of the physical body. Peck argues that we need to prepare for our deaths emotionally and spiritually. He think that euthanasia is not justified.

However he pointed out two issues related with the euthanasia debate that need to be resolved: (1) the need for better pain management, and (2) secularism (Americans claim to be religious but are not committed spiritually). Peck provides a different perspective in our dialogue on euthanasia.

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