Euthanasia

Natural death

only about 1 billion years old, emerging alongside sexual reproduction.

asexual reproduction (fission)

For the first 3 billion years of life, organisms like amoebas used this. Meaning they effectively lived on through their offspring without leaving a corpse.

Sexual reproduction allows for

Higher diversity and survival in changing environments.

Germ line

Hereditary material

Soma

The disposable body

Sex is a

Complementary mixing of distinct entities to produce offspring that are more likely to be better enhanced than their parents.

Death is

the discarding of the soma as a corpse while the germ line continues generation after generation

Determining exactly when someone is dead

is medically and legally complex

Modern criteria of death include

include pulse, breathing, and flat-brain wave response.

What may not end just because of the criteria

Personality

Life and death are not simply

binary concepts

Socrates

He remarks that those who follow philosophy should hope to follow Socrates’ in dying.

Socrates believes that philosophy is

essentially a preparation for death

What is death

The separation of the body and the soul

Separation of the Soul and Body

Death

Socrates defines death as

the soul (psyche) being liberated from the prison of the body

Socrates takes no real pleasure in

physical sensations

Knowledge vs Senses

Socrates believes the senses deceive us, and true knowledge comes only from the mind

A philosopher should

ignore physical sensations and embrace death to reach true knowledge.

One who fears death is proof that

They care for the body and not the virtues nor the soul

Characteristics of the philosopher (virtues)

Courage, Temperance, and Wisdom

Socrates viewed his death as

healing of the soul

What did Socrates say to Crito during his death

“Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt?”

Euthanasia

good death

Voluntary

patient makes the call

Non voluntary

Guardian makes the call

Passive

Withholding treatment

Active

positive act, actively ending one’s life

Passive Euthanasia Examples

DNRs (do not resuscitate), Advance Directives, and Living Wills are situations where the patient cannot speak for themselves in the moment.

Ordinary vs Extraordinary measures

passive euthanasia often involves deciding between ordinary measures (typical treatments with clear benefits) and extraordinary measures (treatments where the burden outweighs the likely benefit)

Karen Quinlan (1970s)

The right to privacy is not lost by her becoming incompetent and so she (via her guardians) could refuse treatment.

Nancy Cruzan (1980s)

must be clear and convincing evidence that patient wants to die

Terry Schiavo (1990s)

whether or not she was conscious

Physician-Assisted Suicide (active euthanasia)

A physician provides a patient with the means to kill themselves, but does not actively kill the patient.

The legal fallacy

You can always say something is legal or illegal, but it doesn’t follow that it is moral or immoral from that legal status.

The legal status does not equal

moral status

James Rachels

Challenges the “general intuition” that passive euthanasia is morally superior to active euthanasia

If the goal is to end unbearable suffering, active euthanasia is

often more merciful than passive euthanasia

Killing vs. Letting Die

Through the Smith/Jones thought experiment (where one man drowns a child and the other merely watches a child drown), Rachels argues there is no prima facie moral difference between killing and letting die.

Passive euthanasia is ___ preferable to active euthanasia

NOT

Passive isn’t just not doing anything

it is a choice

J. Gay-Williams’s view on euthanasia

against euthanasia

The argument from nature

Humans have a natural inclination to survive; euthanasia does violence to this natural goal.

The argument from self-interest

Medical mistakes happen, cures might be discovered, and death is irreversible.

Argument from practical effects

euthanasia might corrupt the life-saving mission of doctors and lead to a “slippery slope” toward non-voluntary killing

J. Gay-Williams Arguments

Argument from nature, argument from self-interest, and argument from practical effects

Who does not exist

J. Gay-Williams