James Rachels argues that in the case of a terminally ill patient who suffers from unimaginable pain, it is sometimes morally acceptable kill him via active euthanasia. Rachels defends his argument through the story of Jack. This story serves to describe the excruciating and incessant pain that many of the terminally ill face. It seems as though the only way Jack and many other hopeless patients could escape this agony is through death. Rachels claims that since Jack was going to die relatively soon anyway, there was no point in forcing him to suffer the pain caused by his disease. As long as Jack asked for death, it would be morally acceptable to end his misery.…
Natural Law Theory states that an action is only considered “right” if it does not intentionally or directly violate any of the four basic intrinsic goods that thirteenth-century philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas described. According to Aquinas, the four basic intrinsic goods are: human life, human procreation, human knowledge and human sociability. So for example, according to natural law theory, using contraceptives such as condoms or birth control pills would not be morally permissible because it directly and intentionally violates the second intrinsic good: human procreation. Not all situations, however, are as straightforward as right or wrong. In some situations, it is impossible to take an action without violating…
Minor Detail 4: He did the right thing because Curley was going to let Lennie suffer by letting him bleed to death but George sis the right thing by getting to Lennie and sending him off thinking about a good happy life and killed him peacefully.…
Chapter 6 is about dealing with ethical questions regarding active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. The chapter begins with many examples in which suicide is clear and others where it can be puzzling. One example was about a truck driver that knew he was going to die anyway, so he stirs his runaway truck into a concrete abutment to avoid hitting a school bus that stopped on the roadway to discharge children. In my opinion, this is not a suicide case. The truck driver didn’t intend on getting killed nor did he want to die. Although he did stir his truck into a concrete abutment, it was only to avoid potentially killing the kids on the bus. The bus driver didn’t have the power to avoid his death, so he chose to safe the life’s of others. Another case was about how a…
“The Foundation and Manifesto of Futurism” written by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti highlights the main ideas behind the futurist movement that he introduced himself. In the beginning of the manifesto, Marinetti and his friends are awake at a late hour of the night and they hear the sound of automobiles pass by. Marinetti encourages everyone to test this new magnificent machine even though there was a sense of mystery and risk about it. Marinetti explains how they were so overcome by the madness and the amazement that they were incoherent to the dangers around them and only focused on breaking free. Marinetti describes how his car crashes into a ditch, but he brings it back to life and it is soon roaring again. He then presents his manifesto for all living men. He challenges the people of Italy to continue to strive for the future and to not look back on the past.…
Medical News Today explains euthanasia as the act of consenting to the termination of one’s life legally through a doctor. Although the general idea of euthanasia is thought of as assisted suicide, this treatment branches into several different aspects. There is passive euthanasia, which is more commonly found in Physician Assisted Suicide, and there is active euthanasia that uses lethal substances to end one’s life. The majority of controversy surrounding this topic is actually caused by the active form of euthanasia.…
In “Active and Passive Euthanasia”, James Rachels challenges the conventional doctrine’s arguments against active euthanasia and ultimately proposes that active euthanasia should be permissible. He first discusses the justification in favor of passive euthanasia and explains how it can be extended to include active euthanasia. Under the AMA, the CDE is supported as a means to alleviate suffering. Rachels points out that active euthanasia also has the potential to alleviate suffering and therefore should be permissible. He further criticizes passive euthanasia stating that it may prolong the amount of time before death, therefore needlessly prolonging the amount of time a patient shall suffer (Rachels, 1975).…
The population of people can be either mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually suffering into pain. We all have different perspectives we can choose to suffer death or have assisted-suicide likewise, snapping your fingers at the instant death. I believe that we do need to euthanasia. I will set reasons why we can be for and against euthanasia. In the hope that, euthanasia it’s needed and follow to have less painful moments.…
“Any action or social policy is morally right if it serves to increase the amount of happiness in the word or to decrease the amount of misery. Conversely, an action or social policy is morally wrong if it serves to decrease happiness or to increase misery.” (RSL/Rachels, EL 247) The utilitarian argument is used to justify and condemn many policies, however, I believe that the argument is especially fitting when it comes to the matter of active euthanasia. Mercy, an action that serves to decrease the overall misery in the world, is an unquestionable sign of kindness and correctness. Mercy comes in many forms and is rarely frowned upon. Following this reasoning, why is mercy that takes the form of ending a suffering patient’s life considered…
Debate Resolution: If voluntary euthanasia is legalized in the U.S., it will have primarily positive and acceptable social consequences. Consequently, it should be legal…
Daniel Brock rationalizes his claim that voluntary active euthanasia is morally permissible with the use of two moral values. According to Brock, the moral values of self-determination and well-being support voluntary active euthanasia. As defined and detailed thoroughly in Brock’s argument on page 11 of his paper “Voluntary Active Euthanasia”, self-determination is equal to the ability to decide what decisions in and about your life will coincide with your concept of a good life, and well-being is equal to being content with your life. The formal argument that Brock formulates is reliant on these two moral values. The argument is as follows: “1. The values of patient self-determination and well-being support VAE, 2. So there is a good moral…
With passive euthanasia, the patient will be in “terrible agony” until the patient’s body finally gives up. For this purpose, physician-assisted suicide should be legal since it is a moral alternative. The physician is doing their job because they are respecting the patient’s wish if they choose not to prolong their pain any longer. With the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, the physician will be able to administer a prescription of the lethal drug dosage that the patient will take on their own to end their life. Physician-assisted suicide is a better alternative to passive since the patient will die “relatively quick[ly] and painless[ly],” (Rachels, 1975, 79) rather than in “terrible agony” (Rachels 1975,…
The code of Hammurabi originated in Babylon in 1772BC, under the sixth king, King Hammurabi. This doctrine contained 282 laws which extended from household laws such as stipulations for divorce, and wage laws. The code also dictated that a strict eye for an eye policy as well as enslavement may be used, and also regulated military actions.…
Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending someone’s life so that any type of suffering and pain will come to an end. It was first seen throughout 5th century B.C. and 1st century B.C. by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Prior to Christianity coming forth, ancient Greece and Rome had a tolerance for assisted-suicide. Few physicians followed the Hippocratic Oath which “prohibited doctors from giving ‘a deadly drug to anybody, not even if asked for,’ or from suggesting such a course of action” (Dowbiggin). During this time there was much support for euthanasia rather than prolonged suffering. This led many physicians to comply with a patient’s request and administer the poisons. Later on between the 12th and 15th century, with the rise…
In the story The Pact by Drs.Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt demonstrate how three young friends can stay together when the times get hard and fulfill their lifelong dream of being doctor’s. If they can accomplish their dreams and making it a reality so, can you by hard work and determination it will come true. This book shows how if you keep your mind set, you can go far and achieve greatness. This will help explain how they “beat the odds”.…