`Quality of Life' and the Analogy With the Nazis

Abstract

Analogies have been made between "quality of life" considerations in contemporary decisions on whether to withhold medical treatment and the "quality" and "value" of life judgments used by the Nazis to justify enslavement and killing of "undesirables." This analogy is refuted by an analysis of Nazi ideology and its comparison with the "quality of life" position; the former is based on the "Volk" or race as the ultimate source of value; the latter defines the individual as having unique value as a self-reflective being with the capacity for deliberation and action. (KIE abstract)