End Of Life Care Ethics Essay
Applying Ethics to End of Life Care
Stanley Jaye Coleman
PHI: 208
John Ludes
June 16, 2014
Applying Ethics to End of Life Care Applying Ethics to End of Life Care can be a difficult task for those involved in making the decisions pertaining to active and passive euthanasia, as well as palliative care when it comes to themselves or loved ones. According to The Last Chapter-End of life decisions “there often comes a time that advances in medicine are no longer your friend, they become the enemy” (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 2010, Dec. 28). Euthanasia, or right to death; according to Mosser (2014), “the argument for euthanasia is straightforward: A person who is virtually certain to die within a given amount …show more content…
According to Mosser (2014), “we should recognize that there are no universal or general ethical standards; that a person 's ethical view is relative to his or her culture, society, tradition, religion, worldview, and even individual values. Because moral claims are said to be relative to something else”, he continues with “Even though philosophers distinguish between different kinds of relativism, we will generally use the term to mean that any ethical claim is relative to a set of beliefs and that any such ethical claim is true, or consistent with, that set of beliefs” (sec 6.2, para. 14). It is the individual aspect of relativism that I would like to focus on as the best way to tackle ethical questions pertaining to end of life care. This leaves the decision solely up to what the individual believes is the right thing to do, based on his or her own personal beliefs. If it is considered ok by that individual to go ahead and end their life, through active or passive euthanasia so they do not suffer more pain than what is necessary, then that is what the morally right thing to do would be. The relativist simply says that the practice a given culture/individual adopts as correct determines what should be done (Mosser, K., …show more content…
This theory allows an individual to make the decision based on what it is that they feel is the right option to do. There is no outside influence as to what a person should do when you are able to make the decision based off of your own moral beliefs. As stated above by Kass, “Each person has a right to control his or her body and his or her life, including the end of it” (pg. 27, para. 1). This right is taken away once you put forth a deontological or utilitarian point of view. The individual no longer has a say in what it is to be done with their life. Many would opt for a less painful death, in fact this researcher would opt for a less painful death knowing that I may spend the rest of my life in agonizing pain, or deteriorating. Even if it was the patients wish to die peacefully before suffering the agonizing effects of the disease, there is nothing that the doctor can do to assist with these wishes, because the law of the land prohibits murder, and since active euthanasia would be causing the death of an individual with the intent to cause the death, this would be classified as murder, this is why the deontological approach cannot work in terms of end of life care. It removes the individual’s wishes as to what they want to have happen, and replaces it with what society believes should happen. The utilitarian
Stanley Jaye Coleman
PHI: 208
John Ludes
June 16, 2014
Applying Ethics to End of Life Care Applying Ethics to End of Life Care can be a difficult task for those involved in making the decisions pertaining to active and passive euthanasia, as well as palliative care when it comes to themselves or loved ones. According to The Last Chapter-End of life decisions “there often comes a time that advances in medicine are no longer your friend, they become the enemy” (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 2010, Dec. 28). Euthanasia, or right to death; according to Mosser (2014), “the argument for euthanasia is straightforward: A person who is virtually certain to die within a given amount …show more content…
According to Mosser (2014), “we should recognize that there are no universal or general ethical standards; that a person 's ethical view is relative to his or her culture, society, tradition, religion, worldview, and even individual values. Because moral claims are said to be relative to something else”, he continues with “Even though philosophers distinguish between different kinds of relativism, we will generally use the term to mean that any ethical claim is relative to a set of beliefs and that any such ethical claim is true, or consistent with, that set of beliefs” (sec 6.2, para. 14). It is the individual aspect of relativism that I would like to focus on as the best way to tackle ethical questions pertaining to end of life care. This leaves the decision solely up to what the individual believes is the right thing to do, based on his or her own personal beliefs. If it is considered ok by that individual to go ahead and end their life, through active or passive euthanasia so they do not suffer more pain than what is necessary, then that is what the morally right thing to do would be. The relativist simply says that the practice a given culture/individual adopts as correct determines what should be done (Mosser, K., …show more content…
This theory allows an individual to make the decision based on what it is that they feel is the right option to do. There is no outside influence as to what a person should do when you are able to make the decision based off of your own moral beliefs. As stated above by Kass, “Each person has a right to control his or her body and his or her life, including the end of it” (pg. 27, para. 1). This right is taken away once you put forth a deontological or utilitarian point of view. The individual no longer has a say in what it is to be done with their life. Many would opt for a less painful death, in fact this researcher would opt for a less painful death knowing that I may spend the rest of my life in agonizing pain, or deteriorating. Even if it was the patients wish to die peacefully before suffering the agonizing effects of the disease, there is nothing that the doctor can do to assist with these wishes, because the law of the land prohibits murder, and since active euthanasia would be causing the death of an individual with the intent to cause the death, this would be classified as murder, this is why the deontological approach cannot work in terms of end of life care. It removes the individual’s wishes as to what they want to have happen, and replaces it with what society believes should happen. The utilitarian