Throughout history, several thinkers have viewed euthanasia as morally permissible under certain conditions. In ancient Greece, Plato and Stoic philosophers such as Seneca suggested that death could be a rational choice in cases of severe suffering. In modern philosophy, utilitarian thinkers such as Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill emphasized reducing suffering, a principle later developed more explicitly by philosophers such as James Rachels and Peter Singer, who argued that euthanasia may be justified when it relieves intense suffering and respects individual autonomy.
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