Abstract
This study discuss the issue of end-of-life decision-making, considering Foucault’s ideas of a technology for managing life that exerts power over bodies (biopower) by a disciplinary system, and politics that prescribes ways of living (biopolitics), and Spinoza’s concept of the body and affects ( affectus ). We conclude that, despite the numerous obstacles to autonomous decision-making by patients, individuals have an absolute power that favors their protagonism. However, their small gestures are often invisible to health professionals.
Bioethics; Decision making; Terminal care; Personal autonomy