Ethical Traditions Part 2 Flashcards
If we witness an individual trying to commit suicide, most of us would probably try to dissuade him from going through with it but we probably have no right to permanently dissuade him as this would interfere with his rights to autonomy unless he is ______________.
Incompetent. If an individual is not yet an adult or if we suspect that he is of unsound mind, then these individuals should be protected from themselves, and morally, intervention would be justifiable.
Some people believe that suicide is never morally acceptable and most of these people base their objections on ___________ grounds.
Religious. Jews and Christians often turn to ‘Thou shall not murder’ as the reason God prohibits suicide, implying that suicide is self-murder. However, other theorists do not agree with this as suicide is not expressly prohibited in the Bible.
____________ is a thorny moral issue and can be defined as the act of killing or allowing the death of an individual who is hopelessly ill for reasons of mercy; it is conducted in the interests of the person undergoing euthanasia–to end their suffering and preserve their dignity or autonomy.
Euthanasia.
______________ euthanasia occurs when an individual undergoes euthanasia without having freely given their consent and must be immoral as it ignores the wishes of the individual and hence violates their human rights.
Involuntary. This is the definition of this kind of euthanasia and would not only be morally wrong but also illegal and considered an act of murder.
Voluntary passive euthanasia is permitted in the US because a competent individual is entitled to refuse ___________ ____________ and it could be argued that this act is morally acceptable because it respects one’s right to autonomy as well as appeals to virtues such as kindness and compassion.
Medical treatment. Voluntary passive euthanasia occurs when a person refuses medical treatment that could save their life. Therefore, a person’s right to autonomy is respected.
Voluntary active euthanasia refers to the direct action that causes death, such as a person asking a doctor to inject him with a lethal dose of drugs. Many people would consider this immoral because it can never be permissible to ______ a person.
Kill. This is effectively what is being asked of the doctor by this person. When compared with passive voluntary euthanasia, it seems that it is more acceptable to let someone die rather than to actually kill that person.
It can be argued that letting a person die is as immoral as actually killing a person, especially if the outcome of the former causes more _______________.
Suffering. When withholding treatment, the person may suffer more pain for a longer time. Compare this with the swift end of the lethal injection.
Fears have been expressed that if active euthanasia is socially acceptable or legalized, then moral ______________ will set in as respect for life is reduced and this may lead to abuses.
Corruption. The fear here is that if active euthanasia is acceptable, then it may open the floodgates for the acceptability of killing the disabled or elderly. Opponents of this view say the risk is exaggerated.
Where the patient is incompetent–for example, in a persistent vegetative state–decisions about withholding or providing medical treatment must be made by others in consultation with health staff, but extreme ___________ must be taken in these circumstances.
Caution. In this position, one person is making life and death decisions on behalf of another and this is fraught with moral difficulties. Some believe that nonvoluntary passive euthanasia can be justified for the patient’s dignity, autonomy, and to minimize suffering. However, there must be strong grounds to show that the patient is suffering terribly, is extremely unlikely to recover, and has lost higher mental functioning capabilities.
Some believe that in matters of taxation, everyone should pay a flat rate regardless of income whereas others believe that it is fairer and more ethically justifiable to have a graduated system based on individuals’ ___________.
Income. People are not equal when it comes to paying taxes because their level of earnings are different. Therefore, it is argued and adopted by many governments that those who earn more money should pay a higher rate of tax.
Some people believe that Black Americans do not receive equality in society due to racial discrimination, which is still pervasive at every level of society though hard to prove in a court of law, and so some people support policies called _______________ _________.
Affirmative action. These policies cover a wide range of actions and consist of actions to promote more minority applicants for a job or college place. It also can describe acts of preferential treatment in the selection of blacks over whites where the former is equally or perceived to be less qualified than the latter on academic or job criteria. This is highly controversial.
Affirmative action covers a wide variety of policies and programs. One form of affirmative action is ________________ treatment.
Preferential. Preferential treatment is a controversial policy which promotes selecting less or equally qualified minority applicants over white applicants for employment or school admissions on the basis of race.
Many people have questioned the preferential treatment of blacks over whites and argue that it is a form of ____________ discrimination, and hence, a denial of justice for whites.
Reverse. They argue that if it is ethically wrong to discriminate against blacks on the basis of their race, then surely it is wrong to do so against whites based on their race.
Proponents of preferential treatment morally justify the policy on the grounds that black Americans have suffered undue harm from past racial discrimination which has resulted in the current absence of equality of _______________ and equal treatment, and hence this policy is necessary to correct this imbalance.
Opportunity. It is argued that past discrimination led to inferior education, housing, health care, jobs, etc., and hence black Americans were not offered the same prospects for progress as whites were.
Some philosophers have argued that the ethical dilemma with preferential treatment is that in benefiting one group, you end up ____________ another.
Harming. By denying a more highly qualified white person a job, these persons may be denied a position in the nation’s elite society grouping. In making up for past discriminations, the whites who suffer now had no hand in participating in previous inequalities, whereas those who did are not made to bear the burden.
The right to bear arms is enshrined in the American psyche but some people are questioning the ethical justification for the storage of firearms in the home where a ________ may be able to obtain it and cause injury to himself or others.
Child. In 1997, the US Center for Disease Control and Protection released a report that revealed that the US had the highest rate of childhood homicide, suicide, and gun related deaths. Many people would argue that guns are needed for protection. However, unless they are well locked away, children may be able to access them. If they are well locked away, then it would not offer very much protection since they could not be easily accessed. This is a case of balancing harms - the need for a gun with the potential harm it could cause a child.
Incarceration is a typical form of punishment levied on perpetrators of crime, but moral concerns have been raised over imprisoning ____________ and those with intellectual disabilities.
Juveniles. There is concern that the incarceration of juveniles will prepare them for a life of crime rather than reform them, as they can be trained by other more experienced criminals in the prison.
Capital punishment of persons who commit crimes under the age of 18 is permitted in some US states; this is morally questionable because a person under 18 is not considered fully _____________.
Competent. Children under 18 lack maturity and rationality to be able to fully comprehend their actions and their consequences. Thus, many argue that it is not ethical to execute someone who committed a crime, albeit a serious one, when still a juvenile. It is argued that rehabilitation would be the kinder and more compassionate course of action.
There are many proponents of capital punishment and they morally justify their stand on the grounds that it is an effective deterrent, is less costly to taxpayers than life imprisonment, provides emotional ________ to the loved ones of the victim, and is permissible by God in the Bible.
Relief. Many believe that this is a justifiable reason for capital punishment, in that it provides closure for the loved ones and hence is morally right.
