Module 8: Life and Death

  • it was initially believed that individuals shouldn’t have the right to die because that was god right

Against the right to die: Velleman Unpacked

  • What context was Velleman writing in?

    • published in 1997 in Oregon, written in 1993

    • before the lays of physician aid in dying came into place in the US

    • put forward to try and prevent these laws from taking place

  • What are important considerations to hold in mind when reading his argument?

    • is addressed at the level of policy (should there be a legal/medical right to die)

    • the moral question on if anyone should morally be permitted or helped to die

    • has issues with concepts of autonomy/dignity that are usually involved in the debate (we’re all dependent on each other)

  • Why could a right to die be justified on Kantian grounds?

    • euthanasia can be justified on Kantian grounds

    • respect for a persons dignity can require us to facilitate his death when that dignity is irredeemably compromised

    • believes that a persons dignity can only be compromised by circumstances that compromise his capacity for fully rational/autonomous decision-making

    • the sense in which he opposes the right to die as a protected option for the patient

  • Why does Velleman use consequentialism to argue against a right to die?

    • the worry is that some patients might mistakenly choose to die when they would be better off living

      • “sometimes we’re better off not having a choice”

    • people can have their autonomy increased in ways that can be undesirable

    • Kamisar

      • Problems is not so much with helping some patients to die, moreso with giving them the choice

      • endorsing the practice of asking them whether to choose to die

    • Options

      • we tend to think having the additional option of something is in itself not harmful

      • amt of brand choices

    • according to consequentialists, having more options may result in worse consequences for individuals

  • Why is Velleman suspicious of the idea that having more options is necessarily beneficial for us as humans?

    • using research by Schelling, he shows that having an option can be harmful even if we do not exercise it, and even if we exercise it and gain by doing so

    • ways options become undesirable

      • they subject you to various kinds of pressure

      • because of what it expresses