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Ethics > Euthanasia > Flashcards

Euthanasia Flashcards

1
Q

Which ethical methods should you use for euthanasia?

A
  • Natural law
  • Situation ethics
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2
Q

Euthanasia word meaning?

A

Greek word meaning good death
The ending of life because a person is in pain and suffering
- Illegal in the UK

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3
Q

What are the 3 different types of euthanasia + meaning?

A
  • 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
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4
Q

Biblical ethical issues with euthanasia?

A
  • 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.
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5
Q

What is the Biblical Sanctity of life? (Euthanasia)

A
  • 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
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6
Q

Problem with ‘Sanctity of life’ applied to euthanasia?

A
  • 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
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7
Q

Sanctity of life 4 mains points? (against Euthanasia)

A
  • 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”
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8
Q

What is the main non-Biblical argument against Euthanasia?
+ examples of this

A
  • 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
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9
Q

Give an example of where Autonomy in society is acceptably not fully respected (Euthanasia)

A
  • New Zelands Smoking Ban
  • Use of hate speech
  • COVID Lockdowns
    –> Autonomy often not respected
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10
Q

What is the difference between Extraordinary means and Ordinary means of keeping someone alive

A

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

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11
Q

What are QUALYS? (Euthanasia)

A

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

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12
Q

What is the Right to Life argument? (Euthanasia)

A
  • 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
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13
Q

Define Suicide + Religious implications + Counterpoint+ Wider Scholars

A
  • 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)
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14
Q

Active vs. Passive Euthanasia?

A

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

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15
Q

Name the 9 Wider scholars (this might be to hard to do all at once)

A
  • 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
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16
Q

List the wider scholars in relation to personhood?

A
  • Mary Anne Warren
  • Germain Grisez and Boyle
17
Q

List the wider Scholars related to Autonomy?

A
  • Jonathan Glover
  • John Stuart Mill
  • Peter Singer
18
Q

List Christian Scholars related to Euthanasia?

A
  • Aquinas
  • Germain Grisez and Boyle
  • Daniel Maguire
19
Q

List the wider Scholars in relation to suicide?

A
  • Aquinas
  • Henry Sidwick
20
Q

Name the Scholar in relation to active and passive euthanasia?

A
  • James Rachels
21
Q

List the main elements of Peter Singer on Euthanasia?

A
  • 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
22
Q

What were Peter Singer’s 3 problems and solutions?

A
  1. Cant be sure it was voluntary
    - Put place guards in place as we do with every other policy we adapt
  2. 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
  3. 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)
23
Q

What did Mary Anne Warren say on Euthanasia?
+ how does this benefit arguments on euthanasia

A

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

24
Q

What did John Stuart Mill say on Euthanasia?

A
  • 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
25
Q

What did Aquinas say relating Euthanasia?

A

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

26
Q

What did Germain Grisez and Boyle say in relation to euthanasia?

A

Christian
- Believed in the importance of personhood - a person in PVS is distinctively human
–> Completely against euthanasia

27
Q

What did Henry Sidwick say in relation to euthanasia?

A
  • Suicide, by an intelligent being, is a statement that life is meaningless –> should not be a criminal act as in the past
28
Q

What did James Rachels say surrounding euthanasia?

A
  • 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
29
Q

What did Daniel Maguire say in relation to Euthanasia?

A
  • 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
30
Q

What does Jonathan Glover say in relation to Euthanasia

A

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.

31
Q

What is the Hippocratic Oath + effects on Euthanasia?

A
  • 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.
32
Q

Examples (Euthanasia)

A
  • 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

Ethics (10 decks)

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