Euthanasia Flashcards
sanctity of life
god created human life in his image
-suggest value and only he has right to end it
-adopted strongly by conservatives and protestants
-catholics would also argue natural law provides evidence for SOL
quotes for sanctity of life
thou shalt not murder- exodus
-your body temple of holy spirit- 1 corinthinans
-whoever sheds human blood- by humans shall their blood be shed for in the image of god has god made mankind - genesis 9
weak sanctity of life view
criticise strong view
-only one of many biblical themes
-jesus emphasis on compassion
-strong view allows suffering and not empathetic
-in some cases compassion for quality of life might outweigh SOL
argument against weak view of SOL
-bible has other themes but dont overrule SOL
-bible against killing
quality of life
-refers to how happy or unhappy life is
-valid consideration to euthanasia because life has to be of certain quality in order to be worth living
peter singer on quality of life
-believes quality of life important factor for euthanasia
-recommends non voluntary euthanasia for babies whose potential QOL is low
peter singers criteria for personhood
rationality and self consciousness
-separates humans and persons
-persons = rational beings
-not all humans are persons
-argues SOL of our species based on christian domination of european thought
-since christian theological tenants no longer accepted- we should re think christian ethical precepts
singer on why its not morally wrong to euthanise
-we thing of what we are depriving someone of when we think killing is wrong
-doesnt deprive then of anything that they are able to have a preference to not be deprived of
Archbishop anthony fisher and slipper slope argument
wherever euthanasia is legalised- its extended to more people
-in holland euthanasia was legalised for terminally ill but 10 years later legalised for babies with severe illness
fisher on euthanasia and QOL
-elderly and vulnerable people might be tempted to die because they feel like a burden
-western culture values beauty, success, productivity
-we might encourage people to feel like failures
alternative to euthanasia
-valid ethical approach would be changing society, not allowing euthanasia
-those who advocate for euthanasia think their compassionate
singer response to fisher
-people who receive euthanasia in oregon and white, educated and not elderly- doesnt target vulnerable people
-genetic screening and stats- euthanasia not more widespread
-fisher criticises allowing euthanasia in society which lacks proper support for vulnerable
autonomy
freedom of people to make their own choices
-view that decision about whether life is valuable morally up to whose life it is
deontological approach of autonomy
nozick libertarian- thinks people have absolute right to do whatever they want as long as they dont harm other
-of person wants to die and receive help from others then its their right
criticism of nozicks deontological autonomy
people will choose euthanasia for short sighted reasons
-we can safely predict they will view life worth living and value overrides temporary violation of their autonomy
singer on autonomy
-takes consequentalist view
-says he doesnt want to make it easy for people to end their lives
-example of young person wanting euthanasia due to depression over relationship issues
consequentialist view of autonomy
-singers view influenced by mills
-mill developed political liberalism
-before enlightenment , religion told people what to do
-individual people in best position to judge what to do
-shows euthanasia should be left to autonomy of competent adult
slipper slope vs consequentialist autonomy
-fisher argues allowing euthanasia for reason of autonomy vulnerable to slippery slope
-if we grant people have autonomous freedom to die, how can we avoid extending it to all cases where someone wishes to die, no matter how short sited reasons
fisher on autonomy 2
argues absolute autonomy right ethical approach
pairing consequentialist view of autonomy with rationality
add condition of rationality
-young love sick person not making a rational calculation
-logically coherent way of avoiding extending autonomy absolutely
fletchers rejection of legalism in the bible including the SOL
-fletchers liberal view of bible
-argues bible not legalistic rules but editorial collection of scattered sayings
-cant take bible literally
-best theme in bible to follow is agape love
-fletcher rejects sanctity of life principle
application of situation ethics to euthanasia
-if someone has very low quality of life and autonomous wish to die fletcher would accept euthanasia
-if someone pressured into it by family or greed or society
- then wrong to allow it
love is subjective applied to euthanasia
-loving is subjective
-nazis forces euthanasia program against terminally ill patients with babies they deemed disabled
-love to subjective to provide basis for ethics
defence of fletcher
-agape love not subjective
-person would not be pressured into euthanasia themselves
-cannot be agape to pressure your neighbour into it
further evaluation situation ethics
what if someone thought they would actually want to be euthanised if they were in the circumstance their neighbour was in
-problem with loving your neighbour as yourself is it depends on whether you love yourself ethically
people are not perfectly loving
people loving nature can be corrupted by power
-someone might find it loving to pressure someone in or out of E
fletcher and robinson defence of situation ethics
-humanity has come of age
-not uneducated like medieval people
-more civilised, granting them more autonomy wouldnt risk stability of society
barclay criticism of robinson and fletcher
-if people are granted freedom they will choose bad thing to do
-power corrupts
-stanford prison experiment and lord of the flies
-freedom to decide good and bad without laws grants more power and corrupts
natural law application to euthanasia
-euthanasia violated PP and SOL
-failure to follow natural law causes disharmony
-dangerous to give humans right to kill themselves
-corruption of power
catholic church on euthanasia and SOL
-CC uses double effect for passive euthanasia
-administer drug to which could speed up death
-as long as intention not to kill actions morally acceptable
catechism on euthanasia
-active euthanasia never justified
-allows giving high doses of pain killers even if it risks killing them as long as death foreseen but besides intention
singer criticises catholic church on euthanasia
church allow passive euthanasia from patients in coma state
-because they have no obligation to provide burdensome treatment
-for patients in coma its impossible to see how keeping them alive on life support could have imposed burden
-logical way to remove treatment
natural law is outdated
-ethical principles made useful in socio-economic conditions of their time
-ancient and medieval society was more chaotic
-strict primary precepts absolutist ethical theories to prevent society falling apart
criticism of outdated natural law applied to euthanasia
-people were less educated so needed simple legalistic rules
-issue is socio-economic conditions have changed
evaluation of natural law is outdated
-this doesnt make his theory wrong
-doesnt make it right that society has moved on from natural law ethics
-if hitler won the war and enslaved humanity, democracy would be outdated
counter evaluation to aquinas
-aquinas theory was reaction to his socio-economic context and since that has changed natural law is not relevant
-aquinas was giving what would be good for his people
-ethical precepts from god gives more moral motivation
-however when they come from eternal being they become inflexible and outdated
non voluntary euthanasia
-when someone doesnt have mental capacity to choose euthanasia
