Euthanasia Flashcards
Euthanasia
Good death, refering to the practice of hasteningsomeone’s death perhaps in order to spare them further suffering
Voluntary euthanasia
When a person’s life is ended at their request or with their consent
Non-voluntary euthanasia
Whe a person’s life is ended without their consent but with the consent of someone representing their interests
In-voluntary euthansia
When a person’s life is ended without their consent when they are if full capacity to consent
Sanctity of life
A religious concept that human life is made in God’s impage and is therefore sacred in value
Quality of life
A largely secular idea that human life has to posses certain attributes in order to have value
Autonomy
The belief that we are free and able to make our own decisions
Active euthanasia
A treatment that is given dircetly causing the death of the individual
Passive euthanasia
A treatment is withheld and this indirectly causes the death of the individual
Dr David moore
Does of morphie hastened the death of a patient who had cancer
Daniel james
Under 16 rugby player, paralysed, went to dignitas after several failed suicide attempts
Hannah jones
Didn’t want to go back to hospital for any more operations, would rather die (13yr)
Example of acts
Legal guardian of nephew, plans to kill him, draws him a bathm make it looks like an accident
Example of omissions
Legal guardian of nephew, resents him but wouldn’t hurt him, nephew slips in bath and hits his head drowining, watches and does nothing
Tony bland
Was in PVS, removed feeding tube, took 10 days to die
- his choice came as important to families as they were now able to make decisions for family members who could not make decisions for themselves surrounding euthanasia
sacrificial suicide
Terminally ill patient taking drugs to extend life, decides to stop taking drugs as death will mean that the family can claim life insurace
Acts and omissions - james rachels
- act = actually killing the person
- omissions = death is an accident but you watch and do nothing
- both are equally as bad
- passive opperating by ommisions might be as bad
Acts and omissions = peter singer
They aren’t very clear cut
Acts and omissions - natural law
- there is a difference
- look at the intention
- double effect
Acts and ommissions - situation ethics
- consequences are mor important
- doesn’t matter if it is acts or omissions
Natural law - 4 tiers
- Eternal law
- Divine law
- Natural law
- Human law
- it is only for God to take life
Natural law - double effect
- depends on the intention behind the action
- death may not have been the primary intention
Sophia
General rules of wisdom
- can be broken when love demands it
Personalism
People are their welfare, importance of autonomy
Pragmatism
We should do whatever is likely to work
Situation ethics - conclusion
- not a total endosment of euthanasia but recognises cases where this is the best option
- traditional religious ethics have come to the wrong conclusion
- ending the life of a person in pain that doesn’ want to live is just
Natural law approach - strengths
- upholds the sanctity of human life
- defends rights
- double effects puts the patient first
- weak sanctity of life recognises that it is acceptable to allow someone to die rather than prolong their discomfort
- prevents individuals playing God
- double effect provides some felxibility
Natural law approaches - weakness
- overly religious and dependent on Chrisian roots
- too legalistic and absolutist, each situation is different
- should look at reducig pain, natural law doesn’t stop this
- doesn’t place significant weight on huamn autonomy
- double effect is close to euthanasia, hard to ditinguish
- peter singer - reduction in pain
- weak sanctity of life implies there is no autonomy
- precept of ‘preserve life’ is out of date and we must rethink it
Situation ethics - strengths
- we are not simply given rules to obey, we are using reason and can think of how to serve love
- more flexible than natural law interpretation
- modern technology and medical knowledge means we cna know who is worth saving
- respects autonomy of individuals
Situation ethics - weaknesses
- quite vague so people may do different things
- you have to predict future consequences
- lacks any absolubte boundaries so leading to a slippery slope
- we don’t agree on what to do
- does not difine what is meant by situation, where do we draw the line
Assisted suicide
Helping others kill themselves
Sanctity of life bible passages
- ‘so God created mankind in his own image’ - Genesis 1:27
- ‘you shall not murder’ - Exodus 20:13
Peter singer quality of life commandments (preference utilitarianism)
- Worth of life varies
- Take responsibility for consequences of decisions to end or save life
- Respect a persons desire to live or die
- Only bring childrenn into the world if they are wanted
- Do not discriminate on basis of species
The slippery slope argument
- changes to the law may lead to a slippery slope
- respect for life is reduced and pressure may be exerted in those who are vulnerable
- people may agree to euthanasia becuase they feel wrongly that they are a burden to society
Singers response to slippery slope
- in the Netherlands there were around 48,000 end of life decisions in the time period of the test
- only 2 cases where it was possible that patients lives had been ended against their will - these could have been explained by poor documentation
Sanctity of life remains a useful concept
- holds up the intrinsic value of life in a culture where we dehumanise others
- it ensure that basic rights such as right to life are respected
- there is a potential slippery slope that sanctity of life avoids
Sanctity of life is no longer useful
- it is a religious concept that is out of place if a secular society
- it is at odds with peoples autonomy
- it leads to people dying painfully and does not treat human life with dignity
- it demands that life must be saved at all costs, medical advances means that it can be known when treatment does not lead to imporvement
People should have autonomy over their own lives
- situation ethics supports the idea of autonomy - key aspect of the idea of ‘personalism’ that we allow individuals to make decisions about what is in their own interest
- arguments against autonomy are based on a religious notion which becomes irrelevant if God does not exist
People should not have autonomy over their own lives
- life is viewed as God-given and preservation of life is one of the five primary precepts
- autonomy is not a concept that is supported by sacred texts
- autonomy is a very difficult concept to apply in such as traumatic and stressful time - there is very little clarity
There is a significant difference between acts and omissions
- natural law, actions matter - preserving innocent life rules out acts that directly lead to death
- double effect allows that some actions may lead to death of an individual
- distinction between acts and omissions takes seriously the issue of moral agency - if we were to allow active euthanasia we would need doctors and other medical professionals to carry this out
There is no significant difference between acts and omissions
- situation ethics challenges the distinction - are cases where agape requires the compassionate response of helping someone to end their life
- teleological focuses on reducing pain and suffering would favour euthanasia
- one practical difficulty is that withdrawal of treatment is often a length process and leads to medical resources, active euthanasia speeds up the inevitable
- double effect is complex and not coherent
