Existential suffering and autonomy: Contributions to the debates on euthanasia and medically assisted suicide in Argentina

Darío Iván Radosta Doctor of Social Anthropology. Postdoctoral Fellow, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Researcher-professor, Escuela Interdisciplinaria de Altos Estudios Sociales, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina. image/svg+xml , Matias Paschkes Ronis Doctor of Social Anthropology. Professor, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Associate researcher, Escuela Interdisciplinaria de Altos Estudios Sociales, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina. image/svg+xml
Received: 29 September 2025, Accepted: 2 March 2026, Published: 9 March 2026 Open Access
https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2026.5970
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Abstract


This article arises from the need to critically reflect on the subjective experience of those who request euthanasia, as well as on the ethical tensions between the conceptual clarity required by legal regulation and the specific, unquantifiable dimensions of human experience linked to suffering and fragility. In this sense, this essay seeks to contribute to current debates on the topic through the conceptual tools offered by moral philosophy, particularly Charles Taylor’s analyses of the construction of the self and Paul Ricoeur’s reflections on the notion of autonomy. Taking as a point of departure the draft bills presented in Argentina between 2021 and 2024 to regulate euthanasia and medically assisted suicide, we draw on the contributions of these authors to critically examine two issues we consider ethically and legally significant for such proposals: (1) existential suffering as grounds for requesting euthanasia, and (2) the intersection between autonomy and fragility as defining horizons of the subject of rights.

Keywords: Euthanasia, Medically Assisted Suicide, Personal Autonomy, Normative Acts, Argentina

Categories: Anthropology, Bioethics

Full-text of the article is available for this language: Español.


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