Matters of Life and Death: Euthanasia

Matters of Life and Death: Euthanasia

James Rachels states that “The rule against killing is among the most important moral principles we have. Rachels questions whether exceptions should be made in the case of Harold Donnelly, a man who shot his own brother to end his suffering and never ending battle with cancer. “Should [such] mercy killings be against the law?” Euthanasia is derived from Greek literally meaning “a good death.” The modern definition of euthanasia is more than just a good death but rather refers to “death that is deliberately brought about for human reasons.” According to Rachels, some euthanasia can be morally justified while other types are not. In the first type, the ill individual is suffering from 1. Irreversible, terminal illness 2. It is intolerable 3. The request was made while of sound mind and repeated over a period of time 4. The patient is killed as a result of his own request and 5. The killing was motivated by providing a loved one with a “good death” to end suffering. According to Rachels, other euthanasia exist that may not have these five features. There are five types of euthanasia; active, passive, voluntary, nonvoluntary and involuntary. Euthanasia is voluntary when it is requested by the person who undergoes it, involuntary when the person who undergoes it wants not to do so and nonvoluntary when the person who undergoes it is unable to indicate whether or not he or she wants to undergo euthanasia. In active euthanasia, a patient is deliberately killed whereas in passive euthanasia a patient is not killed but deliberately allowed to die. A historical view shows that Romans adopted many Greek views – A Stoic philosopher once wrote “We destroy monstrous births, and drown our children if they are born weakly and unnatural formed.” In addition, they also believed suicide and acceptable option whenever people no longer cared to live. The Christian view on the other hand was quite the opposite. They denounced infanticide and...