Quality of Life

Judgments about the kind of life a patient experiences before or after the use of medical interventions. While there are disagreements about the meaning of the term, even whether or not such judgments can be made and can be made fairly and objectively or are necessarily subjective and arbitrary, the concept does exist within the Catholic moral tradition. The term should not be understood, however, as evaluations of the individual’s merit or moral worth. Though all human life is inherently valuable as considered in the principles of human dignity and sanctity of life, physical life is not an absolute value but only the condition for the pursuit of higher values. In other words, purely physical life is a penultimate value but not the ultimate value of human life. "Quality of life judgments, then, are assessments about a patient’s current or future medical condition in relation to his or her abilities to pursue these other important values that transcend physical life. Any decision to use medical technology must consider whether the intervention will enhance or diminish the patient’s ability to pursue life’s values beyond merely physical existence" [Encyclopedia of Catholicism, ed. Richard P. McBrien (New York: HarperCollins Publisher, Inc., 1995)]. Quality of life considerations may be included in one’s evaluation of a medical treatment as a proportionate or disproportionate means, but may not be the sole determining factor.

Return to Issues & Concepts

Return to For the Public - Table of Contents

Return to For Affiliates - Table of Contents