The Ethics of Euthanasia Among the Ndau

This book explores the notion of euthanasia as a highly contested concept in the field of Medical Ethics. In order to unpack some of the controversies around euthanasia, the following pertinent questions are raised: 1. How is euthanasia defined and understood in Western and African contexts? 2. What are the ethical implications of euthanasia for those that practise it? 3. Is euthanasia a foreign concept among the Shona people in general and the Ndau people of Chipinge, South-East Zimbabwe in particular? In the course of coming to grips with these questions, the book explores the nature of euthanasia, its benefits and disadvantages and how various societies view it. The book refers to both Occidental and African secondary sources in Social Ethics such as James Rachels, Bonnie Steinbock, William H. Shaw, Peter Kasenene and Munyaradzi Mawere. It develops Munyaradzi Mawere’s (2009) thesis in which he regards euthanasia as morally repugnant and alien among the Shona people of Zimbabwe. In the main, this book endeavours to argue that euthanasia is not a new concept among the Shona, particularly within the Ndau people’s communities in Chipinge, South-East Zimbabwe.