Euthanasia Flashcards
Which ethical methods should you use for euthanasia?
- Natural law
- Situation ethics
Euthanasia word meaning?
Greek word meaning good death
The ending of life because a person is in pain and suffering
- Illegal in the UK
What are the 3 different types of euthanasia + meaning?
- Voluntary euthanasia - when a person’s death happens with their consent without any coercion.
- Non-voluntary euthanasia - don’t without consent of the patient, e.g. if in coma. Must be medical/family and sometimes legal agreement
- Involuntary euthanasia - done against the wishes of the patient
Biblical ethical issues with euthanasia?
- Sanctity of life - Christianity/religion holds that all life is sacred, implying reverence and respect
- Personhood - Is someone in a Permanent Vegetative State (PVS) still a person.
What is the Biblical Sanctity of life? (Euthanasia)
- Life is a gift from God and only he should take it away.
- Quote Job ‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away’
- Means human life should be protected
- Particularly important for Catholic ethics
Problem with ‘Sanctity of life’ applied to euthanasia?
- Modern technology means people can physically kept alive
- Catholics now accept there is need to use extraordinary means to keep someone alive
- People should not always be obligated to prolong life in every situation, better to achieve a good death
e.g. Jehovah’s witnesses refuse medical treatment
Sanctity of life 4 mains points? (against Euthanasia)
- People created in the image of God –> People are special, have some of Gods nature in us
- God is the giver of life –> Ecclesiastes ‘There is a time for everything. A time to be born and a time to die’ God gives life and he takes away death should be left in his hands
- Human life is a Gift- Life should be preserved and enhanced not destroyed
- Every life has a God-given purpose –> God destined each of us to be born. Psalm “he took care when creating us, all life is important and should not be wasted”
What is the main non-Biblical argument against Euthanasia?
+ examples of this
- Slippery slope - If you allow exceptional circumstances it will become normalised meaning parameters become wider
–> Oregon Right to Die law - in 1997 - has been extended since
Give an example of where Autonomy in society is acceptably not fully respected (Euthanasia)
- New Zelands Smoking Ban
- Use of hate speech
- COVID Lockdowns
–> Autonomy often not respected
What is the difference between Extraordinary means and Ordinary means of keeping someone alive
Extraordinary
- Going above and Beyond what is necessary
e.g. Ventilator
–> Not required to take by the Catholic Church - morally acceptable to not do
Ordinary
- Always required to take e.g. good or water
–> this has changed over years
What are QUALYS? (Euthanasia)
Quality Adjusted life year schedules
- Doctors calculate
- Measures weather the use of extraordinary means would improve the quality of life of dying patient
–> acts as criteria for Euthanasia
What is the Right to Life argument? (Euthanasia)
- Other have duty to not kill you / you have right to life - at contradiction with euthanasia
–> However, not always respected by society e.g. wars, capital punishment etc.
–> firefighters, soldiers, have always been room for rational person to make decision about death - Doctors have to be ok with having a duty to kill
Define Suicide + Religious implications + Counterpoint+ Wider Scholars
- Deliberate termination of one’s life
- ## Against religious belief –> interferes with God’s plan + not natural
- ## Double standards - suicide bombers, soldiers, police admired for risking lives as martyrs (Could argue Jesus death for of suicide)
- Henry Sidwick (statement by intelligent being that life is meaningless should not be criminalised)
- Aquinas (unnatural rejection of God’s Gift, Against preservation of life precept)
Active vs. Passive Euthanasia?
Active - Person killed by an Action taken e.g. lethal injection
Passive - No action performed which results in death e.g. lack of extraordinary means
- James Rachels
- Situation Ethics - Active = less suffering as is quicker therefore more loving option
Name the 9 Wider scholars (this might be to hard to do all at once)
- Mary Anne Warren - Personhood criteria
- Germain Grisez + Boyle - Christian importance for Personhood
- Jonathan Glover - Factors need to be considered e.g. Autonomy or effects of not allowing
- John Stuart Mill - Right over body/ autonomy
- Aquinas - Primary precepts - preservation of life
- Daniel Maguire - sanctity of life limits
- James Rachels - no difference between passive +active euthanasia
- Peter singer - harm principles - criteria for euthanasia + 3 key problems
List the wider scholars in relation to personhood?
- Mary Anne Warren
- Germain Grisez and Boyle
List the wider Scholars related to Autonomy?
- Jonathan Glover
- John Stuart Mill
- Peter Singer
List Christian Scholars related to Euthanasia?
- Aquinas
- Germain Grisez and Boyle
- Daniel Maguire
List the wider Scholars in relation to suicide?
- Aquinas
- Henry Sidwick
Name the Scholar in relation to active and passive euthanasia?
- James Rachels
List the main elements of Peter Singer on Euthanasia?
- Harm principle
–> Actions should only be limited if they present harm to others - 2 Key principles
–> 1. people can waive there rights “If one so chooses”
–> 2. If we endorse autonomy we will assist others in voluntary euthanasia - To prohibit euthanasia is to promote less happiness as it promotes suffering
- Singers 3 problems and solutions
What were Peter Singer’s 3 problems and solutions?
- Cant be sure it was voluntary
- Put place guards in place as we do with every other policy we adapt - Will be a small number of mistakes, cases where it would have been better to not perform euthanasia
- A small number of harms will occur in pursuit of a larger good. This happens will all other things e.g. Speed limit, we accept small number of harms for the greater good - Giving too much weight to individual freedom, can lead to a slippery slope
- Must respect autonomy when a choice is rationally based.
- Worth of human life depends on quality, if patient has low quality could justify taking their life.
- Problem
–> allows doctors to ‘play God’ e.g. putting DNR
–> quality of life is very subjective + hard to judge (could be external reasons e.g. feeling like burden to families)
What did Mary Anne Warren say on Euthanasia?
+ how does this benefit arguments on euthanasia
Developed a 5 step criteria for personhood
1. Consciousness - of objects, events and pain
2. Reasoning - capacity to solve complex problems
3. Self-motivated activity - activity independent of generic or direct external control
4. Capacity to communicate - whatever means
5. Presence of self-concepts + self-awareness - individual or racial (major groupings)
–> does not insist on any being absolutely necessary
–> obvious an individual lacking all 5 is not a person
Benefits to euthanasia argument
- Creates clear set of criteria for personhood
What did John Stuart Mill say on Euthanasia?
- A person has absolute rights over his or her body
- Harm principle - people should have full autonomy as long as it does not harm others
However, - Some people believe autonomy gives people the right to life, meaning the right not to be killed
- Rule utilitarianism
What did Aquinas say relating Euthanasia?
Sanctity of life states taking another human life is not allowed
First primary precept is preservation of innocent life - (against suicide)
- Doctrine of double effect- a difference between the intention to deliver a lethal dose of painkillers and simply caring for the dying / accidentally killing when trying to help
–> the secondary effect of killing a patient is not acceptable as the intention was to kill
preservation of innocent life + ordered living society is against suicide
- saw suicide as a rejection of God’s gift
What did Germain Grisez and Boyle say in relation to euthanasia?
Christian
- Believed in the importance of personhood - a person in PVS is distinctively human
–> Completely against euthanasia
What did Henry Sidwick say in relation to euthanasia?
- Suicide, by an intelligent being, is a statement that life is meaningless –> should not be a criminal act as in the past
What did James Rachels say surrounding euthanasia?
- No difference between active and passive euthanasia –> in fact letting someone die naturally is cruller as they suffer more
- Used example of two uncles who stand to gain lots of money; Smith drowns his nephew in the bath, Jones goes to drown his nephew but finds he already banged his head and is unconscious then lets the boy die.
–> Smith is a murder and Jones is not - Rachels says both murders
What did Daniel Maguire say in relation to Euthanasia?
- Proportionalism
- Rejects idea God alone has power over life and death –> –> Sanctity of life has its limits esp. if life has reached its limit
- on some occasions euthanasia is moral choice
What does Jonathan Glover say in relation to Euthanasia
Criteria
States there are 3 factors that need to be considered before allowing euthanasia
1. Helper should be convinced decisions is serious –> not temporary decision they may change
2. Helped should think decision is reasonable
3. Circumstances should be considered –> are circumstances liable to change or not e.g. life-long illness
Autonomy
- “Refusing to provide help is a serious denial of a persons autonomy”
- esp. Voluntary Euthanasia
Critiques of Common arguments
1. Slippery Slope –> Allowing V.E. could lead to involuntary Euthanasia e.g. Nazi’s
–> Does not come from V.E. but ideology devaluing certain peoples lives
2. Allowing V.E. might discourage people seeking hospital treatment
–> Cannot assume this, don’t know how people would react
3. Allowing V.E. would switch focus from comforting to euthanising patients e.g. Liverpool Pathway (patients deprived of fluids before being euthansised)
–> need a carefully devised system to prevent these side effects.
What is the Hippocratic Oath + effects on Euthanasia?
- Oath taken by doctors
- Pledge ‘nonmaleficence’ + ‘respect for patients autonomy’
–> imply active euthansia to prevent harm, pain and suffereing
–> or against euthanasia as killing is form of harming someone
–> respect for autonomy means allowing voluntary Euthansia.
Examples (Euthanasia)
- 2022 Canada, controversy over cases where two people with medical conditions receiving insufficient financial support applied for euthanasia –> applied due to “abject poverty”
- Liverpool pathway –> developed to prevent patients from exploitation / abuse e.g. deprivation on fluids before euthanasia
- 1997 Oregon Death with dignity Act allows terminally ill to end lives through voluntary lethal medications
–> slippery slope 9 states now have it - 2021 New Mexico most recent
