The right to a dignified death--need for debate.

This issue has fascinated and troubled sensitive and concerned persons through the centuries. Plato, in The Republic, condemned physicians who allowed patients to suffer from lingering death and suggested euthanasia. So did Senaca when he raised the query of whether man is lengthening his life or death. Well known philosophers and writers who have justified or supported the cause of individuals voluntarily opting for a dignified death include Epicurus, Thomas More, Francis Bacon, Schopenhauer, Koestler and Nietsche.