Euthanasia, also known as assisted suicide, involves a person in extreme suffering, and wishing to deliberately end their life with the help of another person. Euthanasia is illegal in a majority of countries. These countries feel that it should never be ok for someone to help another person kill themselves regardless of the circumstances and even class it as manslaughter or murder (Choices, 2015). A utilitarian has many views on the subject and why it is acceptable and why it is not. Throughout this assignment, I will go into further detail of a utilitarian’s view on euthanasia and whether or not they think it is acceptable.
Utilitarianism dates all the way back to the 19th century and is famously associated with philosophers Jeremey Bentham …show more content…
Preference utilitarianism is concerned about what is best for someone in the long run, rather than what they think will maximise please at that point in time. An action is morally right if it produces the most favourable consequences for the people involved (, no date). In terms of euthanasia, a preference utilitarian would think about the individuals’ preference and what would be best for them: to die or to live. If the person was, for example, having a bad day, a preference utilitarian would say that they don’t necessarily need to end their life because other days will be better. However if the bad days of an ill person were every day, then a preference utilitarian would agree that euthanasia would be a good option. Ideal Utilitarianism is similar to other versions of utilitarianism that are concerned about maximising pleasure. Furthermore this version is also concerned with maximising intrinsic goods, such as beauty, truth or knowledge (, no date). An ideal utilitarian, in this case, would think about euthanasia in the following way: Yes the person wants to die however a person’s live is extremely valuable and life is seen as a beautiful thing. Moreover, the person will most likely be appreciated by many others therefore they shouldn’t consider euthanasia according to an ideal utilitarian. However, the value and beauty of a person life must be weighed against the reason that they are wishing …show more content…
This first problem is with consequences. How can we predict what will happen if the person who is wanting to end their life actually does it? Who can say that their family will be devastated or they may even be sad for a few days. It’s very difficult or even impossible to predict what will happen if they do or don’t go through with euthanasia. Another problem with consequences is that with long and short term consequences. Nobody can know what the short term consequences of someone going through euthanasia will be. Once they are killed, their family could be devastated, so does that mean the person should live? That’s why long term consequences must be considered as well because the long term consequences could be that the person is now out of pain and the family have moved on. This is difficult because it’s hard to know whether long or short term consequences should be thought of when making a
Utilitarianism dates all the way back to the 19th century and is famously associated with philosophers Jeremey Bentham …show more content…
Preference utilitarianism is concerned about what is best for someone in the long run, rather than what they think will maximise please at that point in time. An action is morally right if it produces the most favourable consequences for the people involved (, no date). In terms of euthanasia, a preference utilitarian would think about the individuals’ preference and what would be best for them: to die or to live. If the person was, for example, having a bad day, a preference utilitarian would say that they don’t necessarily need to end their life because other days will be better. However if the bad days of an ill person were every day, then a preference utilitarian would agree that euthanasia would be a good option. Ideal Utilitarianism is similar to other versions of utilitarianism that are concerned about maximising pleasure. Furthermore this version is also concerned with maximising intrinsic goods, such as beauty, truth or knowledge (, no date). An ideal utilitarian, in this case, would think about euthanasia in the following way: Yes the person wants to die however a person’s live is extremely valuable and life is seen as a beautiful thing. Moreover, the person will most likely be appreciated by many others therefore they shouldn’t consider euthanasia according to an ideal utilitarian. However, the value and beauty of a person life must be weighed against the reason that they are wishing …show more content…
This first problem is with consequences. How can we predict what will happen if the person who is wanting to end their life actually does it? Who can say that their family will be devastated or they may even be sad for a few days. It’s very difficult or even impossible to predict what will happen if they do or don’t go through with euthanasia. Another problem with consequences is that with long and short term consequences. Nobody can know what the short term consequences of someone going through euthanasia will be. Once they are killed, their family could be devastated, so does that mean the person should live? That’s why long term consequences must be considered as well because the long term consequences could be that the person is now out of pain and the family have moved on. This is difficult because it’s hard to know whether long or short term consequences should be thought of when making a