Euthanasia

Question 1

What is the sanctity of life?

Answer 1

Claims that because God created human life, only God has the right to end it. Humans were created in God’s image, further suggesting that human life is especially valuable

Question 2

Who believes in the strong sanctity lie principle?

Answer 2

Both conservative Catholics and protestants. Catholics would also think that Natural Law ethics provides justification for the conservative sanctity of life principle.

Question 3

How does 1 Corinthians 6:19 suggest that euthanasia is wrong?

Answer 3

“Your body is a temple of the holy spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God. You do not belong to yourself”.
We essentially do not have the right to take our own life.

Question 4

How does Genesis 9:6 suggest that euthanasia is wrong?

Answer 4

“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.”

Question 5

How do the proponents of the weak sanctity of life principle criticise the strong sanctity of life principle?

Answer 5

Although sanctity of life is important in judging the value of life, there are other principles that should also be included, such as Jesus’ emphasis on compassion. The problem with the strong sanctity of life view is that it allows unnecessary suffering and is uncompassionate, seeming to ignore the demands of compassion. In some cases, compassion for the quality of life might outweigh the sanctity of life.

Question 6

Why is the Bible against euthanasia, implying the strong sanctity of life principle to be correct?

Answer 6

Although the Bible does have the theme of compassion, that doesn’t mean it can be used to overrule the sanctity of life. The Bible clearly is against killing. There is no exception mentioned for the sake of compassion.

Question 7

What is the quality of life?

Answer 7

Quality of life refers to how happy or unhappy a life is. Proponents of the quality of life in relation to euthanasia regard it as a valid ethical consideration because they think that life has to be of a certain quality in order for it to count as worth living.

Question 8

What is Peter Singer’s criteria for personhood?

Answer 8

Rationality and self-consciousness.

Question 9

Why is Peter Singer for euthanasia?

Answer 9

Singer argues that if we think about what we find wrong with killing someone, it is that it deprives them of the life they want to continue live. A consequence is that if euthanasia is voluntarily asked for by a competent adult, then it would not be wrong. It’s not morally wrong to kill them because it doesn’t deprive them of anything that they are able to have a preference to not be deprived of.

Question 10

Why did the Archbishop Anthony Fisher argue euthanasia as a slippery slope?

Answer 10

That wherever euthanasia is legalised, it is extended to more people. He points out that in Holland euthanasia was legalised for the terminally ill but 10 years later it was legalised for babies in cases of severe illness.

Question 11

How does Fisher further argue that euthanasia is dangerous to the elderly?

Answer 11

Some elderly or otherwise vulnerable people might be tempted to die because they feel like a burden. Western culture values success, self-sufficiency, productivity and beauty. Those who fall short can feel miserable as a result. If we allow euthanasia, such people might feel encouraged to die because they feel like failures.

Question 12

What was the controversy in Canada in 2022?

Answer 12

In 2022 in Canada there was a controversy over two high profile cases of people with medical conditions for which they received insufficient financial support applying for euthanasia. One called Denise saying they have applied for euthanasia “because of abject poverty”.

Question 13

What is autonomy?

Answer 13

The freedom of people to make their own choices. This isn’t directly a view on the value of life, but it is the view that the decision about whether a life is valuable ought morally to be up to the individual

Question 14

What Nozick’s deontological view on autonomy?

Answer 14

He argued for the principle of ‘self-ownership’, meaning we essentially have property rights over our own lives and bodies. If a person wants to die and receive help from others (making it euthanasia) then that is their right.

Question 15

What is Singer’s consequentialist view on autonomy?

Answer 15

Influenced by Mil, Mill developed political liberalism. Before the enlightenment, religion told people what to do. Mill thought that people would be happier if granted individual freedom. Individual people are in the best position to judge what is best for them and have the greatest motivation to ensure they live the best lives possible. This shows that euthanasia should be left to the autonomy of a competent adult.

Question 16

Why is the consequentialist view of autonomy suffering the slippery slope?

Answer 16

There is no logically coherent way to restrict the principle of “freedom to die” to the cases where it seems most applicable. If we grant that people have the autonomous freedom to die, how can we then avoid extending it to all cases where someone wishes to die, no matter how short-sighted their reason?

Question 17

Why does Fletcher reject legalism in the Bible including the sanctity of life?

Answer 17

Fletcher argued that the Bible is not a legalistic ‘rules book’. We can’t take the Bible literally, nor can we figure out which interpretation is correct. The best approach is to follow the general themes of the Bible, which is agape. This approach allows Fletcher to reject the sanctity of life principle.

Question 18

How does Fletcher apply agape to euthanasia?

Answer 18

Situation ethics would judge that euthanasia can be morally good, in situation where it maximises agape.

Question 19

What is W. Barclay’s criticism applied to euthanasia?

Answer 19

People are not perfectly loving so if given the power to judge what is good or bad, people will do selfish or even cruel things. People’s loving nature can be corrupted by power.

Question 20

What does Fletcher and Robinson argue against people not being perfectly loving?

Answer 20

Influenced by Bonhoeffer, that humanity has ‘come of age’. This means that humanity has become more mature. Now people are more civilised, to the point that granting them more autonomy will increase love without risking the stability of society.

Question 21

What is Barclays explanation against euthanasia?

Answer 21

It is a well-known feature of human psychology that power is corrupting. The freedom to decide what is good or bad without external supervision of legalistic laws grants humans more power and thereby corrupts them.

Question 22

What primary precept does euthanasia violate in natural law?

Answer 22

Euthanasia violates the primary precept to protect and preserve human life. Violating the sanctity of life also violates the primary precept of maintaining an orderly society.

Question 23

How does the doctrine of double effect in Catholicism allow euthanasia?

Answer 23

‘Direct’ (active) euthanasia is never justified, but passive euthanasia, whether voluntary or non-voluntary, can be justified through the double effect. So long as the intention is not to kill, the double effect would suggest such actions can be morally acceptable.

Question 24

Why is Aquinas’ Natural Law no longer useful?

Answer 24

Sociologically, we could claim these ethical principles were created to be useful in the socio-economic conditions of their time. They served a useful function in medieval society.

Question 25

According to Fisher, what is a more valid ethical response to euthanasia?

Answer 25

The valid ethical approach would be changing our society, not allowing euthanasia. Those who advocate for euthanasia think they stand for compassion, not realising they are the unwitting executioners for our merciless success-driven society.

Question 26

Why does Fisher not directly criticise euthanasia?

Answer 26

They highlight the problem with allowing euthanasia in a society which lacks proper support for those who need it. Arguably it at most suggests that euthanasia must be combined with proper support for the vulnerable

Question 27

Why is sanctity of life somewhat important?

Answer 27

If we stop believing life is sacred, we reduce the value our society places on life and thus will treat it as less valuable. That will endanger the order of society. No human is good enough to wield that power responsibly.