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Binding and Hoche’s “Life Unworthy of Life”: A Historical and Ethical Analysis
- Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 57, Number 4, Autumn 2014
- pp. 500-511
- 10.1353/pbm.2014.0042
- Article
- Additional Information
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The 1920 essay by German attorney Karl Binding and psychiatrist Alfred Hoche, “Permitting the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life,” is often characterized as a stepping-stone toward the Nazi genocide policies. A careful review of Binding and Hoche’s arguments does reveal elements that foreshadow Nazi thinking, but it also contains points that fail to parallel—or that directly contradict—Nazi death practices. A proper ethical and historical analysis of this work requires a more nuanced discussion than it often receives.