“Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering” (Euthanasia, 2013). Every year, hundreds of people are injured greatly both physical and psychological. Some of these are so heavily hurt that they feel they have nothing left to live for. Their lives are ruined and all they can do is sit, eat and sleep. In some cases it is discussed if euthanasia could be an option. However, it has always been a question how bad an injury is before one can perform euthanasia. Is the value of life bigger than the pain of a victim? In this term paper I will therefore, through facts, researches and personal beliefs, try to answer the question: Who and/or what determines which lives are worthy or not?
Firstly, to show how widespread euthanasia is, we can look at the legality. The law is a very restricted law and it is only legalised in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. However, passive suicide is a passed law (an even more restricted variation of euthanasia) in Switzerland and four US states: Washington, Oregon, Montana and Vermont. This fact does on the other hand not certify that only people from these states are helped to die. In Switzerland the organisation Dignitas reports to have helped 164 British residents (as euthanasia is completely illegal in the UK) over the last 13 years, and that the numbers are increasing each year. (Ertelt, 2012) Nevertheless some people are not completely happy with the situation. They wish for an easier way to get help and want the government to pass the law in their country/state.
Furthermore we can look at what worthy really refers to. It can refer to the concrete value of a human life measured in dollars or pounds or it can vary depending on family and s...
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Ertelt, S. (2012). “Switzerland – assisted suicide deaths up 700% in 11 years”. Localised 11. 11. 2013 on the Internet: http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/29/switzerland-assisted-suicide-deaths-up-700-in-11-years/
Euthanasia (2013). Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia. Localised 11.11.2013 on the Internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia
Facts and Statistics on Euthanasia (2013). Religion facts. Localised 28.11.2013 on the Internet: http://www.religionfacts.com/euthanasia/stats.htm#6
Henig, R. M. (2013). “A life or death situation”. Localised 11.11.2013 on the Internet: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/magazine/a-life-or-death-situation.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=euthanasia
Kip Viscusi, W. (2005). The value of life [pdf]. Localised 11.11.2013 on the Internet: http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/papers/pdf/Viscusi_517.pdf
Overall, it is vital to apprehend that when looking at the value of life, we are able to see in a view that surpasses all of the mess ups, failures, and setbacks. That looks passed all of the achievements, accomplishments, and profits. What truly defines the value of someone's life is looking at is the basic necessity of every human life, the
The issue at hand is whether physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for patients who are terminally ill and/or enduring prolonged suffering. In this debate, the choice of terms is central. The most common term, euthanasia, comes from the Greek words meaning "good death." Sidney Hook calls it "voluntary euthanasia," and Daniel C. Maguire calls it "death by choice," but John Leo calls it "cozy little homicides." Eileen Doyle points out the dangers of a popular term, "quality-of-life." The choice of terms may serve to conceal, or to enhance, the basic fact that euthanasia ends a human life. Different authors choose different terms, depending on which side of the issue they are defending.
Beauchamp, T. 1999, ‘The Beginning and End of Life’ in Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, eds Walters, L. & Beauchamp, T., Wadsworth, Belmont CA, pp. 94-98.
Velasquez, Manuel, Andre, Claire “Assisted Suicide A Right or Wrong.” Santa Clara university n.d. web 24 March 2012
Harned, Mary. “The Dangers of Assisted Suicide.” Defending Life. Americans United for Life, 3 April 2012. Web. 20 March 2014.
...g Death; Assisted Suicide." The Economist 20 Oct. 2012: 18(US). Global Issues in Context. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
... value ordering. Goldman says life does not hold value in itself; instead most individuals derive the meaning of life from their accomplishments and happiness to the point where individuals may even risk their health and lives to attain those. As established before about paternalism in a medical contest, it is only the patient’s true values that can be primary determinants of their futures.
Smith, Wesley J. "Assisted Suicide Will Not Remain Restricted to the Terminally Ill." Assisted Suicide. Ed. Sylvia Engdahl. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Death on Demand: The Assisted-Suicide Movement Sheds Its Fig Leaf." Weekly Standard (5 July 2007). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
The ethical debate regarding euthanasia dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. It was the Hippocratic School (c. 400B.C.) that eliminated the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide from medical practice. Euthanasia in itself raises many ethical dilemmas – such as, is it ethical for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient in ending his life? Under what circumstances, if any, is euthanasia considered ethically appropriate for a doctor? More so, euthanasia raises the argument of the different ideas that people have about the value of the human experience.
Any discussion that pertains to the topic of euthanasia must first include a clear definition of the key terms and issues. With this in mind, it should be noted that euthanasia includes both what has been called physician-assisted "suicide" and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide involves providing lethal medication(s) available to the patient to be used at a time of the patient’s own choosing (Boudreau, p.2, 2014). Indifferently, voluntary active euthanasia involves the physician taking an active role in carrying out the patient’s request, and usually involves intravenous delivery of a lethal substance. Physician-assisted suicide is felt to be easier psychologically for the physician and patient than euthanasia because
Manu, Constantin D. "Assisted Suicide." Journal of Medicine and Life, vol. 3, no. 1, 2010., pp. 52-9.NC Live. http://nclive.org/cgi-bin/nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/ 755214846? accountid=13939. Accessed 24 Sept. 2016.
The value of life is a very controversial topic. It has been brought up many times throughout history in interviews, poem, stories, and even class. Many people have different opinions on what the value of life is and what it is worth. Unfortunately there is no denotative definition. It is connotative, which can only be defined through personal experiences and beliefs. Many highly intelligent people have different views on the value of life and express it in whatever way they can.
Is it right to intentionally bring about the death of a person? The vast majority of people would instinctively answer this question “no,” unless it related to an act of war or perhaps self-defense. What if taking the life of the person would benefit that person by ending their suffering? Would it be morally acceptable to end their suffering? Questions like these are debated by those considering the morality of euthanasia, which is a very controversial topics in America. Euthanasia can be defined as “bringing about the death of another person to somehow benefit that person” (Pojman). The term implies that the death is intentional. Because there are several different types of euthanasia, it is difficult to make a blanket statement concerning the morality of euthanasia. This paper will discuss the particular morality of the passive and active forms of involuntary, nonvoluntary, and voluntary euthanasia. I believe that voluntary passive euthanasia is morally acceptable, while all other forms of euthanasia are ultimately immoral.
In order to provide a framework for my thesis statement on the morality of euthanasia, it is first necessary to define what euthanasia is and the different types of euthanasia. The term Euthanasia originates from the Greek term “eu”, meaning happy or good and “thanatos”, which means death, so the literal definition of the word Euthanasia can be translated to mean “good or happy death”.
In the following essay, I argue that euthanasia is not morally acceptable because it always involves killing, and undermines intrinsic value of human being. The moral basis on which euthanasia defends its position is contradictory and arbitrary in that its moral values represented in such terms as ‘mercy killing’, ‘dying with dignity’, ‘good death’ and ‘right for self-determination’ fail to justify taking one’s life.