Almost every person on this earth has a heard of the term euthanasia to some degree. Even though there are many different forms of euthanasia the most common is when a person askes to be killed in a painless manor most times because of an untreatable illness. For most people there decision on whether it’s right or wrong have to do with their own morals or religion. In this paper I will be taking a stand on whether or not I feel euthanasia is right, while also showing how ethics places a part in it. Out of the many different theories such as Virtue Ethics, Natural Law Theory, Utilitarianism, or Deontological Ethical Theory ext. I feel that the utilitarianism theory and consequentialism would best explain euthanasia from ethical stand point.
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In this paper I will present euthanasia from both sides, those who agree with it and oppose it, while also presenting my own opinion. The reason I feel that utilitarianism and euthanasia intertwine is because utilitarianism involves actions that benefit society. If anyone has been asked to commit euthanasia the one question they have is whether it is right or wrong? To fully find out whether it is right or wrong you must first understand the different forms of euthanasia. There is no defined answer to this question. When looking at it thruw the eyes of the utilitarianism theory most will automatically say it is right, but they would be somewhat wrong. One reason why it may be looked at as right is because as long as the end result is good then the action by which the person got the result is also good. One case where it will be looked at as right is voluntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is simply when a person askes to be killed & wants to be killed. As you can see the end result will be good, because the person’s wishes are being fulfilled. While on the other hand if a person was committing non-voluntary euthanasia then the result would not necessarily be good since we would …show more content…
Another way to explain euthanasia in an ethical form would be to take a personal stand on the matter. I personally feel that euthanasia is not morally right. Even though utilitarianism says it’s good other theories and philosophers have greatly disagreed. In particular Samuel von Pufenforf believed in the duty theory. The duty theory states that “we are morally obligated to act in accordance with a certain set of principles and rules regardless of outcome.” Proponents of the duty theory like myself believe that our moral obligations fall into three categories, which are our duty to God, our duty to our self, and duties to others. In the case of euthanasia it might not disobey the duties to others in some cases but it is morally wrong because it fails to obey our duty to god and especially our duty to oneself. These three duties were made for people to use them as a checklist to determine if something is morally correct. They are to be followed just as the Ten Commandments
In this paper I will present euthanasia from both sides, those who agree with it and oppose it, while also presenting my own opinion. The reason I feel that utilitarianism and euthanasia intertwine is because utilitarianism involves actions that benefit society. If anyone has been asked to commit euthanasia the one question they have is whether it is right or wrong? To fully find out whether it is right or wrong you must first understand the different forms of euthanasia. There is no defined answer to this question. When looking at it thruw the eyes of the utilitarianism theory most will automatically say it is right, but they would be somewhat wrong. One reason why it may be looked at as right is because as long as the end result is good then the action by which the person got the result is also good. One case where it will be looked at as right is voluntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is simply when a person askes to be killed & wants to be killed. As you can see the end result will be good, because the person’s wishes are being fulfilled. While on the other hand if a person was committing non-voluntary euthanasia then the result would not necessarily be good since we would …show more content…
Another way to explain euthanasia in an ethical form would be to take a personal stand on the matter. I personally feel that euthanasia is not morally right. Even though utilitarianism says it’s good other theories and philosophers have greatly disagreed. In particular Samuel von Pufenforf believed in the duty theory. The duty theory states that “we are morally obligated to act in accordance with a certain set of principles and rules regardless of outcome.” Proponents of the duty theory like myself believe that our moral obligations fall into three categories, which are our duty to God, our duty to our self, and duties to others. In the case of euthanasia it might not disobey the duties to others in some cases but it is morally wrong because it fails to obey our duty to god and especially our duty to oneself. These three duties were made for people to use them as a checklist to determine if something is morally correct. They are to be followed just as the Ten Commandments