Legal and Ethical Boundaries of the Right to Die—and
the Right to Kill
Section Editor: Thiago Rodrigues-Pereira
Contact: prof.thiagorp@gmail.com
Cc: Anne Wagner
(General Editor) — valwagnerfr@yahoo.com
We invite chapter proposals for the Legal and Ethical Boundaries of the Right to Die—and the Right to Kill section of
the forthcoming International Handbook of
Legal Language and Communication: From Text to Semiotics.
This section
investigates the multifaceted legal, ethical, philosophical, and
socio-political dimensions of the right to die—and the right to kill, offering
an interdisciplinary exploration of how contemporary societies define, contest,
and regulate the boundaries of life, death, and legitimate violence. Extending beyond doctrinal
and legislative analysis, it situates end-of-life and life-taking
decision-making within broader frameworks of human rights, bioethics, and
governance, interrogating how power over life and death is exercised, justified, and contested.
 |
Scope and Focus
Legal
and Comparative Dimensions
·
Examination of national and transnational developments in euthanasia,
assisted suicide, palliative care, and state-sanctioned killing (such as capital punishment, military engagement, and law
enforcement).
·
Analysis of how legal systems interpret autonomy, dignity, culpability,
and the sanctity of life across diverse
traditions—common law, civil
law, religious, and customary frameworks.
·
Exploration of the role of courts, legislatures, and regulatory bodies
in shaping legal precedents and balancing state
interests with personal freedoms and collective security.
·
Consideration of international human rights
instruments, including the European Convention
on Human Rights
and UN declarations, in framing
debates around both the right to die and the right to
kill.
Ethical and Biolegal
Tensions
·
Discussion of key bioethical principles—autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and
justice—and their application to end-of-life and life-taking contexts.
·
Critical engagement with medical and technological advances
(life-support systems,
neurotechnologies, AI-assisted triage, lethal medical interventions) that blur
distinctions between sustaining, ending, and taking life.
·
Analysis of professional responsibilities, ethical decision-making, and conscientious
objection within healthcare, military, and law enforcement settings.
·
Assessment of the implications of social inequality, vulnerability, disability rights,
and healthcare access in shaping ethical
and legal outcomes
concerning who may die—and
who may kill.
Societal and Cultural Contexts
·
Investigation of how societal values, religious traditions, and moral
narratives inform public and legislative attitudes toward assisted
dying, state punishment, and justifiable killing.
·
Consideration of vulnerable populations—such as the elderly, disabled,
imprisoned, or economically
disadvantaged—in debates on consent, coercion, and protection from harm.
·
Study of advocacy
movements, abolitionist campaigns, and policy reforms
that shape public discourse on
the legitimacy of ending or taking life.
·
Reflection on the sociocultural and political imaginaries that underpin collective understandings of mercy,
justice, and sovereignty in decisions over death.
Semiotic, Linguistic, and Rhetorical Approaches
·
Analysis of the language and symbolism surrounding death, dignity, and killing in legal, political, and media discourse.
·
Exploration of how metaphors such as “mercy killing,” “death with dignity,”
“state-sanctioned death,” and
“legitimate force” shape public perception and legal framing.
·
Examination of rhetorical strategies used in judicial reasoning, legislative drafting, and advocacy communications that define
moral and legal
boundaries of dying
and killing.
Global and Emerging
Challenges
·
Study of transnational advocacy networks and policy diffusion
in euthanasia, capital punishment, and humanitarian law.
·
Discussion of cross-border practices such as assisted suicide
tourism, international
execution protocols, and military interventions with ethical or legal
implications.
·
Consideration of digital
and technological frontiers—including AI-assisted decision-making, autonomous weapons systems, and data ethics
in life-and-death governance.
·
Reflection on privatization trends in healthcare, security, and biotechnology, and their influence on
accessibility, accountability, and ethical oversight in decisions to end or
take life.
|
Academic Perspectives
Contributions are encouraged from law, philosophy, bioethics, sociology, communication, and cultural studies, among
others.
Interdisciplinary approaches bridging doctrinal, empirical, and theoretical analysis
are particularly welcome.
Possible lenses include:
·
Human rights law and comparative legal theory
·
Bioethics and medical
jurisprudence
·
Semiotics of law and communication
·
Critical, feminist, or postcolonial perspectives on death, violence,
and legitimacy
|
Policy-Oriented Questions
·
How do legal
systems balance personal
autonomy and state authority in both dying and killing?
·
What ethical and procedural standards guide decisions over life and death in medicine,
law enforcement, or war?
·
How do language and narrative
shape societal understanding of “legitimate death”?
·
In what ways do technological, economic, and political
transformations challenge
traditional moral and legal boundaries?
|
Call for Contributions
We welcome proposals that:
·
Present comparative or interdisciplinary analyses
of death and killing within
legal and ethical frameworks.
·
Explore the linguistic, symbolic, and communicative dimensions of how societies
justify or contest death.
·
Offer case studies
or empirical analyses
of evolving legal
practices, policy reforms, and public responses.
·
Provide innovative theoretical or methodological insights
into how power
over life and death is expressed through law and
discourse.
|
Submission Guidelines
Please submit
a short abstract (approximately 300 words) outlining your proposed
contribution and its relevance to the section’s scope.
Send expressions of interest and abstracts to:
Thiago Rodrigues-Pereira (Section Editor): prof.thiagorp@gmail.com
Cc Anne Wagner (General
Editor): valwagnerfr@yahoo.com
Handbook link: https://meteor.springer.com/ihllc
Handbook link: https://meteor.springer.com/ihllc
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