EuthanasiaEuthanasia

Part IIPart IIEthics

Dr. Jason M. Chang

Active vs. Passive Euthanasia

American Medical Association’s (AMA) policy

“The intentional termination of the life of one human being by another – mercy killing – is

contrary to that for which the medical profession stands and is contrary to the policy of the

American Medical Association […] The cessation of employment of extraordinary means to prolong the life of the body when there is

irrefutable evidence that biological death is immanent is the decision of the patient and/or immediate family.” (AMA, Opinions of Judicial

Council, 1973)

Active vs. Passive Euthanasia

“The State has reaffirmed the line between ‘killing’ and ‘letting die’ ”-U.S. Supreme Court, Vacco v. Quill

The Difference Thesis

There is a moral difference between killing and letting die: it is morally worse to kill than to let

die.

James Rachels, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”

Objective of article:

• To refute the Difference Thesis

• To argue that there is moral difference between active and passive euthanasia

James Rachels, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”

Point #1: Active vs. Passive Euthanasia

• Patient with throat cancer

• Rachels’s pointo Active euthanasia is sometimes

preferable to passive euthanasia

James Rachels, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”

Point #2: No moral difference between killing and letting die

• Smith and Jones example

• Rachels’s pointo Difference Thesis is false

Winston Nesbitt, “Is Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?”Objective of article:

• To refute the examples presented by Rachels that presume to show that the Difference Thesis is false

Winston Nesbitt, “Is Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?”Revisiting Rachel’s Example:

• Nesbitt concedes that we both Smith and Jones equally reprehensible

• Nesbitt asks, “What are the grounds for judging Smith and Jones as reprehensible”

Images from: www.typetoken.com/140/140_Class8.ppt

Grounds for judging Smith

He killed his nephew for

personal gain

Grounds for judging Jones

He was prepared to kill

his nephew, and would have

done so if necessary

Winston Nesbitt, “Is Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?”

• Nesbitt’s revised example – Jones slips and hits his head

• In revised example, Jones is just as reprehensible as Smith

• What makes each equally morally reprehensible is that each was fully prepared to kill for motives of personal gain – NOT because killing and letting die are morally equivalent.

Winston Nesbitt, “Is Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?”

• Nesbitt’s second revised example – Jones draws the line at killing

Bibliography

Lewis Vaughn. “Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide”, in Contemporary Moral Arguments, 2nd edition, Oxford, (2013), 264-268

“Is Euthanasia Wrong III”. Retrieved from: <www.typetoken.com/140/140_Class8.ppt>