{"id":13263,"date":"2012-01-15T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-15T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263"},"modified":"2023-01-28T18:11:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T02:11:45","slug":"to-thine-own-self-be-true-on-the-loss-of-integrity-as-a-kind-of-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;To thine own self be true&#8217;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Henri Wijsbek<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"174\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethics.jpg\" alt=\"Bioethics\" class=\"wp-image-11050\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bioethics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><br>One of the requirements in the Dutch regulation for euthanasia and assisted suicide is that the doctor must be satisfied &#8216;that the patient&#8217;s suffering is unbearable, and that there is no prospect of improvement.&#8217; In the notorious Chabot case, a psychiatrist assisted a 50 year old woman in suicide, although she did not suffer from any somatic disease, nor strictly speaking from any psychiatric condition. In Seduced by Death, Herbert Hendin concluded that apparently the Dutch regulation now allows physicians to assist anyone in suicide simply because he or she is unhappy. In this paper, I reject Hendin&#8217;s conclusion and in particular his description of Mrs Boomsma as someone who was &#8216;simply unhappy.&#8217; After a detailed narration of her lifestory, I turn to the American philosopher Harry Frankfurt&#8217;s account of volitional incapacity and love for a more accurate characterization of her suffering. Having been through what she had, she could only go on living as another person than the one she had been when she was a happy mother. That would have violated her integrity, and that she could not bring herself to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Wijsbek H. <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1467-8519.2010.01801.x\">&#8216;To thine own self be true&#8217;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering.<\/a> Bioethics. 2012 Jan;26(1):1-7. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Henri Wijsbek AbstractOne of the requirements in the Dutch regulation for euthanasia and assisted suicide is that the doctor must be satisfied &#8216;that the patient&#8217;s suffering is unbearable, and that there is no prospect of improvement.&#8217; In the notorious Chabot case, a psychiatrist assisted a 50 year old woman in suicide, although she did not &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8216;To thine own self be true&#8217;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,554,14,2,559,659,634],"tags":[1657,1656,934],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-13263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assisted-suicide","category-ethics","category-euthanasia","category-journal-article","category-law","category-philosophy","category-psychiatry-psychology","tag-henri-wijsbek","tag-herbert-hendin","tag-integrity"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>&#039;To thine own self be true&#039;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering - Protection of Conscience Project Library<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mrs Boomsma was not &#039;simply unhappy.&#039; She could not violate her integrity by continuing to live as someone other than a happy mother.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;To thine own self be true&#039;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering - Protection of Conscience Project Library\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mrs Boomsma was not &#039;simply unhappy.&#039; She could not violate her integrity by continuing to live as someone other than a happy mother.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Protection of Conscience Project Library\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-15T23:30:00+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-29T02:11:45+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethicsog.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"338\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Project Administrator\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethicsog.jpg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@consciencpro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@consciencpro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Project Administrator\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Project Administrator\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;To thine own self be true&#8217;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-15T23:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-29T02:11:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263\"},\"wordCount\":227,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/bioethics.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Henri Wijsbek\",\"Herbert Hendin\",\"integrity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Assisted suicide\",\"Ethics\",\"Euthanasia\",\"Journal Articles\",\"Law\",\"Philosophy\",\"Psychiatry\\\/Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263\",\"name\":\"'To thine own self be true': On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering - Protection of Conscience Project Library\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/bioethics.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-15T23:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-29T02:11:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"Mrs Boomsma was not 'simply unhappy.' She could not violate her integrity by continuing to live as someone other than a happy mother.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/bioethics.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/bioethics.jpg\",\"width\":174,\"height\":230,\"caption\":\"Bioethics\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13263#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8216;To thine own self be true&#8217;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Protection of Conscience Project Library\",\"description\":\"Service, not Servitude\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Protecton of Conscience Project\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/projectlogo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/projectlogo.jpg\",\"width\":1123,\"height\":1376,\"caption\":\"Protecton of Conscience Project\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/consciencepro\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/consciencpro\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098\",\"name\":\"Project Administrator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Project Administrator\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.consciencelaws.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'To thine own self be true': On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering - Protection of Conscience Project Library","description":"Mrs Boomsma was not 'simply unhappy.' She could not violate her integrity by continuing to live as someone other than a happy mother.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"'To thine own self be true': On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering - Protection of Conscience Project Library","og_description":"Mrs Boomsma was not 'simply unhappy.' She could not violate her integrity by continuing to live as someone other than a happy mother.","og_url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263","og_site_name":"Protection of Conscience Project Library","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro","article_published_time":"2012-01-15T23:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-29T02:11:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":338,"url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethicsog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Project Administrator","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethicsog.jpg","twitter_creator":"@consciencpro","twitter_site":"@consciencpro","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Project Administrator","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263"},"author":{"name":"Project Administrator","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/person\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098"},"headline":"&#8216;To thine own self be true&#8217;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering","datePublished":"2012-01-15T23:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-29T02:11:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263"},"wordCount":227,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethics.jpg","keywords":["Henri Wijsbek","Herbert Hendin","integrity"],"articleSection":["Assisted suicide","Ethics","Euthanasia","Journal Articles","Law","Philosophy","Psychiatry\/Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263","name":"'To thine own self be true': On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering - Protection of Conscience Project Library","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethics.jpg","datePublished":"2012-01-15T23:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-29T02:11:45+00:00","description":"Mrs Boomsma was not 'simply unhappy.' She could not violate her integrity by continuing to live as someone other than a happy mother.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethics.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bioethics.jpg","width":174,"height":230,"caption":"Bioethics"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13263#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8216;To thine own self be true&#8217;: On the loss of integrity as a kind of suffering"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/","name":"Protection of Conscience Project Library","description":"Service, not Servitude","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#organization","name":"Protecton of Conscience Project","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/projectlogo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/projectlogo.jpg","width":1123,"height":1376,"caption":"Protecton of Conscience Project"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro","https:\/\/x.com\/consciencpro"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/person\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098","name":"Project Administrator","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Project Administrator"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.consciencelaws.org"],"url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15484,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13263\/revisions\/15484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13263"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=13263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}