Medicalization of life risks to expropriate man from his own death. Dying is the last act of life. There is no good or bad death. That, as Epicurus remarks, is «nothing to us, because when we are there is no death, and when there is death, then we are not». There is instead a good or a bad life. Even its last moments are part of life. Eubiosia, which means good life, is at equal distance from both the therapeutic obstinacy and euthanasia. Eubiosia is a response to the deepest fears of the dying person: the fear of loneliness and that of the physical pain. At a community level, taking care of the patient, who is at the death’s door, by giving him/her palliative treatments within a family context, helps the person to take possession of himself/herself and to live also the last phase of his/her life with dignity.
Keywords: Morte, eubiosia, testamento biologico, autodeterminazione, counseling bioetico, fine vita