Live and Let Die

Michel Houellebecq suggests that agitating for medical assistance in dying infantilizes those who seek relief when their suffering becomes intolerable [“The European Way to Die,” Revision, February]. In making this argument, he contends that suffering one’s death throes without alleviation—no matter how debilitating or agonizing the condition—has always been considered noble. This is simply untrue. Seneca, who recommends finding “the proper time to slip the cable,” is one of many ancient philosophers who argued that the wise human seeks not a “natural” death but a good one. Valerius Maximus writes of early inhabitants…