Abstract
Rhetoricians and bioethicists have analyzed medical assistance in dying (MAiD), sometimes referred to as physician assisted suicide or euthanasia, and suggested that it falls into predictable topoi. To deepen our understanding of public deliberation around MAiD, we propose a Multi-Method, Multiply Ontological (M3O) methodology. M3O encourages phronesis through pivots in method. Diverging findings from each pivot may surface complexities that only come from putting those findings into conversation. We analyzed public testimony about MAiD bills proposed in Connecticut and Nevada with both framegram and topoi analysis to discern how pro and anti-MAiD rhetors conceptualized personhood in this discourse. We found that both sides build arguments around intersecting topoi of (1) personhood as a set of ontological traits, (2) personhood as a social practice, (3) questions of autonomy, and (4) issues of vulnerability to suffering. When placed into the context of existing data on MAiD discourse and policy, we found that questions of dignity and personhood may be placed into deeper conversation with an analysis of risk and autonomy to complicate our assumptions about the values implied in this discourse.
Keywords
physician-assisted suicide, end-of-life, topoi, computational rhetoric, autonomy, personhood
How to Cite
Welsh, P. & Graham, S., (2026) “Multi-Methodological, Multiply Ontological: Pivoting Methodologies in Rhetorical Analysis of Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD)”, POROI 20(1): 7. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/2151-2957.33949
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