Research Meeting with Julia Fischer

On 14 April 2026, the Assisted Lab team held a research meeting with Julia Fischer, Executive Director and Research Scientist at the Department for Ethics and Law in Medicine at the University of Vienna, focusing on the positioning of assisted dying within the project. A central point of discussion was the tension between competing concerns in the debate on assisted dying, particularly between thanatophilic and thanatophobic perspectives. While thanatophilic positions emphasize autonomy, dignity, and a more accepting stance toward death, thanatophobic perspectives foreground the preservation of life and express caution toward practices that may normalize assisted death. The meeting provided an important opportunity to reflect on these differing orientations and to further refine the project’s conceptual and analytical framework.