Hedonism And John Stuart Mill's View On Euthanasia

Ever since the beginning of philosophical thinking and teachings there have been controversial topics that have a huge array of thoughts and opinions. No matter how much you support one view there will always be someone to oppose you. One of these topics is Euthanasia, which is the act of painlessly killing someone who is suffering from an incurable and very painful disease or condition. When you look at John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism viewpoint on euthanasia you can see that he defends it. Reading Mill’s “Hedonism” he says that happiness is the supreme moral good, we need to act in ways that promote happiness and diminish misery. This idea comes from the Greatest Happiness Principle and is the main focus of John Stuart Mill. When you …show more content…
Although I think there is more to it than just promoting happiness, but it is a good focus for moral behaviours. Seeing someone in a large amount of pain that is incurable is a tough sight, especially for their family. Although it is very sad dealing with a loss of family it may be even harder seeing them suffer. Ending this suffering in a painless way would diminish the misery and promote happiness. This is why I agree with Mill and agree that euthanasia should be legal because it is morally permissible. The next philosopher that has a strong view on euthanasia is James Rachels. Like Mill, Rachels also supports euthanasia, but Rachels rejects the utilitarian argument for euthanasia because it only focuses on creating happiness and avoiding misery. Rachels sees that there is more than just happiness, you also need to look at people 's freedom and rights. When all parties agree to euthanasia no one’s rights are being violated and it is still promoting happiness by ending the misery of the victim. This is why Rachels supports euthanasia, because not only does it promote the happiness it violates no one’s …show more content…
Looking at all the views of the philosophers I have talked about I can say that I think that euthanasia is morally permissible. It is hard to agree with all the things John Stuart Mill and Peter Singer believe, but I do agree with them about euthanasia I just don’t agree with all of their reasoning and beliefs. I disagree with Mill who only looks at the greater happiness and with Singer’s quality of life views and I disagree with Immanuel Kant and his Categorical Imperative which opposes euthanasia. The only philosopher I completely agree with is James Rachels, who looks at happiness and the rights of the people. So although there are opposing views such as Kant’s I think that euthanasia is morally permissible and should be legal as long as everyone involved in the situation agrees to