Human issues of life and death Flashcards
NML on voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide
-Against euthanasia
-Goes against sanctity of life
-encourages other solutions e.g end-of-life care
-against precept preservation of life
-euthanasia is an apparent good.
Virtue ethics on voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide
-Use practical wisdom to make thoughtful decision-making based on circumstances.
-Consider the character of the individuals involved and the virtues they should exhibit.
-Consider virtues of benevolence, justice and integrity.
-If the individual can no longer achieve eudamonia, further living is useless.
-Murder is defined by the victim NOT wanting to die.
Situation ethics on voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide
-Acceptable if it is the most loving thing to do e.g only way to prevent unnecessary suffering.
-Relativism (depends on situation)
-Personalism emphasises the value of the individual and their well-being.
-Assess whether the act is the most loving and compassionate response to the person’s suffering.
“To prolong life uselessly…is to attack the moral status of a person” - Fletcher
NML on abortion
-Against
-Life begins at conception (Catholic)
-Goes against all primary precepts
-Against reproduction, doesn’t preserve life, direct and intended effect is to end the life, intrinsically evil.
-BUT some NML followers allow graded absolutism which argues it is acceptable in extreme cases such as if the mother’s life is in danger.
Virtue ethics on abortion
-Matter for the rules of the city state
-Abortion should be before birth
-Consider well-being of mother and child (compassion)
-Courage needed to make challenging moral decisions.
-Acceptable if it will contribute to one’s overall eudaimonia
-Rise of backstreet abortions possibly viewed as not virtuous.
Situation ethics on abortion
-“No unwanted child should ever be born” - Fletcher
-Important to value the dignity and worth of each individual including the mother and potential child.
-If the birth will lead to suffering for either the mother or child, abortion is arguably the most loving thing to do.
-BUT others would argue the most loving this is to find other ways e.g adoption.
Case studies for abortion
-Romanian Jewish doctor aborted 3000 Jewish women entering a concentration camp. If pregnant, they would be killed.
-Woman had an abortion after she feared her baby would be born with absence/malformation of the limbs as a result of the morning sickness drug she took ‘thalidomide’.
-1962 an unwell girl was raped by another patient in a mental hospital. She was refused the abortion.
Peter Singer on abortion.
-The criteria for personhood should replace sanctity of life.
-There are qualities that comprise personhood and foetuses cannot exhibit them.
What are potential benefits of embryo research?
-Could enable testing for inherited diseases and prevent cancer.
-Understand and prevent miscarriages.
-Increased success rate of IVF.
-Organ transplants save lives.
-Cures for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other disorders.
-Treatment for diabetes, paralysis and other conditions.
These all help to enhance quality of life for individuals.
NML on embryo research
-Against
-Embryos are possible human lives, it abandons the natural methods of reproduction.
-Firmly against designer babies as it interferes with God’s natural order and design.
-BUT
-May be acceptable if it prevents severe genetic diseases without causing harm.
-Proportionalists may argue the benefits outweigh the destruction of the embryo.
virtue ethics on embryo research
-Acceptable so long as it is virtuous
-Unrestricted and unethical experimentation may not seem virtuous.
-Screening to prevent genetic disorders may assist the child to achieve eudaimonia.
-BUT against designer babies as being too focused on superficial traits may steer attention away from the importance of virtues and moral character.
-Should be ethical boundaries.
Situation ethics on embryo research
-Could be viewed as pragmatic to allow unethical embryo research if it will result in discovering cures for diseases.
-Designer babies are not agapeic.
-Potential to alleviate suffering is agapeic.
-The good for actual persons in more important than the good for potential persons.
Positives and negatives of designer babies.
Positives:
-Ensure healthy embryos are chosen to prevent inherited disease that reduce quality of life.
Negatives:
-Many with inherited disease would argue it is discriminatory to claim they have poorer quality of life.
-Could lead to wider rich-poor divide as only wealthy can afford to possibly pick how ‘smart’ the child is etc.
-May lose the unique aspect of human nature and individuality if everyone is picking the same ‘aesthetic’ of their child.
NML on capital punishment
-May uphold the principle of ordered society.
-BUT doesn’t uphold precept of preservation of life.
-Violates principle of dignity
-Some argue it is an effective deterrent, but others argue other methods such as rehabilitation should be used.
-Proportionalism agrees as it is an equally severe punishment for the crime.
-May be acceptable if it is the only way to prevent a grave and imminent threat to society.
virtue ethics on capital punishment
-Examine their character
-Is it for the common good?
-Consider the situation (practical wisdom)
-Acceptable if it is the most virtuous thing to do e.g the only way to protect society.
Situation ethics on capital punishment
-You have to decide in the light of your own views as to what love demands in the situation.
-Consider the context: the crime, the individual, the possibility of rehabilitation.
-May be more loving to to execute a criminal if it is the only way to protect society and bring justice to the victim’s family.
-May be more loving to focus on rehabilitating the individual if they have the potential.
Peter Singer on euthanasia.
-To be a person/have personhood you need to meet a certain criteria.
-Therefore people who suffer from physical conditions that inhibit their ability to meet this criteria should be permitted to end their own lives.
NML on euthanasia.
-Unjustifiable.
-Goes against preservation of life and God’s commandment ‘do not kill’.
-Catholic Church focuses on importance of palliative care as opposed to the ending of a life.
-Life is a gift from God so it is not human responsibility to take it away.
Who was Tony Nicklinson?
-58 year old paralysed neck down after stroke.
-He wanted to be euthanised.
-Wanted to change the law so that doctors wouldn’t be charged if they took his life.
-He failed, “I fear for the future and the misery it is bound to bring”.
-He died after refusing food.
Who was Noel Conway?
-Terminally ill man with motor neurone disease who wanted the right to die.
-He tried to change the laws to allow him the right-to-die.
-Failed
Who was Corrie Ten Boom?
-Hid Jews from arrest and deportation during the German occupation of the Netherlands.
-Member of Dutch Christian Reformed Church.
-Protested Nazi persecution of Jews.
How is Corrie Ten Boom an example of lying being acceptable?
-Saved the lives of Jews by lying to a corrupted government.
-Lying can result in greater good than telling the truth.
NML on lying.
“Lying is evil in respect of its genus” - Aquinas.
-Disrupts ordered society and goes against God’s commands.
BUT
-Accepts withholding the truth by telling a different truth.
Kant on lying.
-Every person is bound by following their duty.
-It is our duty not to lie.
-Lying therefore breaks ‘universal law’ and treats others as a ‘means-to-an-end’.
Proportionalism on lying.
-Aquinas’ thinking is illogical and irrational.
-Considers the intention behind the lie and the value of the good effect against the disvalue of the bad effect.
-Would allow lying if there was a proportionate reason to do so.
Situation ethics on lying.
-Situational.
-Withholding information from someone knowing that it will cause them suffering/problems is unjustifiable and doesn’t maximise agape.
-BUT lying to reassure someone knowing that it will not have a bad effect on them is agapeic because it values the individual.
Virtue ethics on lying.
-Unclear.
-Lying is not a virtue, honesty/truthfulness is.
-Lying could become habitual and lead to a disordered society.
-BUT honesty could conflict with another virtue, leading to confusion on whether it is acceptable to lie or not.
-Therefore, Aristotle leaves it up to the individual to decide what is most virtuous e.g proposition ‘love decides there and then’.
