Voluntary Active Euthanasia Analysis

Superior Essays
Dr. Kallfelz
PHI 3323 – 01
November 11, 2015
Euthanasia
Euthanasia is directly or indirectly bringing about someone’s death for their own sake. There are four different types of euthanasia, such as voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and active euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is when the patient or legal guardian agrees or requests euthanasia. Non-voluntary euthanasia is when the legal guardian agrees or requests to euthanasia while the patient is incapacitated or incapable of making the request. Passive euthanasia is withdrawing and withholding action, allowing the patient to die. Active euthanasia is when direct action is taken, ending the life of the patient. I chose to focus my paper on the article entitled “Voluntary Active Euthanasia” written by Dan W. Brock. In "Voluntary Active Euthanasia", Brock analyzes the arguments for and against the legalization of active euthanasia. From his perspective, an individual’s well-being and control over
…show more content…
People have the right to make "important decisions about their lives for themselves according to their own values or conceptions of a good life, and in being left free to act on these decisions" (Brock 227). This allows people to take responsibility over their own lives as long as the person can make decisions. “For many patients near death, maintaining the quality of one’s life, avoiding great suffering, maintaining one’s dignity, and insuring that others remember us as we wish them to become of paramount importance and outweigh merely extending one’s life” (Brock 227. Life is about quality rather than quantity. Euthanasia is highly subjective; therefore, if it was legalized, then the law should not be very specific about the type of situation that euthanasia is permitted for a patient. It is important that the final decision of the situation be left up to the individual, their family, and/or their

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Nowadays, euthanasia comes in four main different forms. The first one is “active” euthanasia, which happens when a person directly and deliberately causes the patient's death. The second form is “passive” euthanasia: someone does not directly take the patient's life, but just allows the person to die. The third form is called “voluntary” euthanasia and it occurs at the request of the person who dies. The fourth form is called “involuntary” euthanasia, or “non voluntary”, and it occurs when the person is unconscious or otherwise unable to make a meaningful choice between living and dying, and an appropriate person takes the decision on their behalf.…

    • 2032 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In James Rachel’s “Active and Passive Euthanasia,” he specifically argues, “that the traditional distinction between killing and letting die is untenable” (Rachels, 1975, p. 678). Rachels believes killing is not any worse than letting someone die. Therefore, passive euthanasia is not better than active euthanasia. For legal reasons, physicians may have to differentiate the difference between passive and active euthanasia, but, “they should not give the distinction any added authority and weight by writing it into official statement of medical ethics,” (Rachels, 1975, p.678). Active euthanasia is defined as killing the person directly.…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    3. (word count: 634) An example of a virtuous person performing a morally right action is not participating in cheating when they easily could. This person may be in a super hard math class that they are struggling with. Maybe they need to get an A on the next test in order to pass the class and have the grade point average that they want.…

    • 1831 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Euthanasia: An Annotated Bibliography Keown, John. " Voluntary Euthanasia and Physicianassisted Suicide: Should the WMA Drop Its Opposition?. " World Medical Journal, vol. 62, no. 3, Oct. 2016, pp. 103-107.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Voluntary active euthanasia and Physician assisted suicide, is there no morally relevant difference? Some may say there is no morally relevant distinction between voluntary active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Voluntary active euthanasia requires the involvement of the physician in the act itself; whereas physician assisted suicide requires the physician to prescribe the medication that the patient can later take to kill him or herself.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The subject of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide is a controversial one. Should the decision of whether to end one’s suffering be that of patient autonomy or a matter of the state? Euthanasia is “the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit.” (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, 2015) There are two types of euthanasia, active euthanasia is performed by an action, like a lethal injection, and passive euthanasia is done by omission, like withholding or withdrawing life support.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Claire Conroy, a woman suffering from end stages of dementia, robbed of her right to choose voluntary euthanasia. She had other health issues including heart disease, high blood pressure, gangrene in her leg, bedsores, and was unable to talk. She could not control her bladder or bowels, and was only able to moan, scratch, and sometime smile if someone was combing her hair. Claire had not gotten to exercise her right to die. She died a slow and painful death, suffering from infection and dementia.…

    • 1374 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his essay, “ Active and Passive Euthanasia,” by James Rachel he makes the argument that there is nothing morally wrong with Passive Euthanasia that’s given to be acceptable. Passive Euthanasia letting someone die becoming permissible is an acceptance Rachel proves from the behalf standards of medical reasons. Medical reasons doctors can take out tubes, respirator, etc.. “Letting go” is a decision making doctors do for the patient to die having no pain of suffrage anymore. It’s not a consequence for causing a death on purpose, “ the matter of life and death is being decided on irrelevant grounds.” (Rachel, p.290).…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Euthanasia is “the practice of ending the life of a person suffering from an incurable condition. ”(Berk) I don’t really think anyone has the right to make end-of-life decisions besides the person dying or who that person chose to make the decisions for them. I think this because what if a child of the person was chosen to make the decision and it turns out the dying person didn’t get along with their child. The child may make decisions based on what they want and not what their parent would have wanted.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the medical field, Passive Euthanasia is defined as, “the physician 's abiding by the rational valid refusal of life-sustaining treatment of a patient or his surrogate decision-maker” (Gert, and Culver CM). For example, Passive Euthanasia would be cases where a patient would get cut off from their life support system, and the physician would “pull the plug.” Active Euthanasia is usually defined in a similar nature to Physician Assisted Suicide, where a patient who has a terminal illness would have his life terminated for the sake of ending his/her suffering. However, there is one key difference between the two, “In Euthanasia: The physician performs the intervention [and] In Physician-assisted suicide: The physician provides the necessary means or information [and] the patient performs the act” (Emanuel and Charles Von Gunten).…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this paper, I am going to talk about the topic of euthanasia. I will argue that active euthanasia is morally permissible in the case of a terminally ill patient who is going through unbearable amounts of pain. Furthermore, the focus of this paper will only be on this type of euthanasia; active euthanasia. However, in the first part of my essay I will not only define what active euthanasia is but I will explain how it differs from other types of euthanasia such as physician-assisted suicide.…

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Euthanasia, also known as death with honor or dignity is used to help patients who are suffering from a disease that cannot be cured. When doctors see no hope of cure in a patient’s health, the treatment becomes too painful euthanasia helps, in euthanasia doctors can drug the patient suffering with lethal and put them to sleep.. It is every human’s natural right to decide whether they wish to live or die, especially in the situation where there is no hope for cure. Legalizing Euthanasia can put an end to miserable sufferings of patients in need. It is a way to reduce further treatments that do not guarantee cure and rather cause more pain to the patient.…

    • 1301 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Smriti Kochhar James Rachel in “Active and Passive Euthanasia” tells us the difference between active and passive euthanasia and the role it plays in medical ethics. Being directly involved in the killing of an individual is more socially unacceptable than withholding treatment and watching someone die. However, according to Rachel, both are equally reprehensible. Rachel’s views on active and passive euthanasia are predominantly neutral.…

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Euthanasia has been the topic of debate for years. The issue of surrounded by euthanasia effects ethical and legal that relates to patient and health care professionals (Naga & Mrayyan, 2013). Euthanasia is defined as the active killing of patients by doctor at the request of the patients. There are several types of euthanasia, active and passive, voluntary and involuntary. Active euthanasia refers steps that are taking to cause death; passive euthanasia refers to step that are taking to cause death by withholding treatment.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The second type of euthanasia is passive euthanasia, or the refusal of life sustaining treatment through a spoken or written living will (Funk & Wagnalls, 2016). This is often seen when people are in a coma or vegetative state and cannot speak on their own behalf. They rely on their living will to speak for them, stating their desire to be removed from the devices keeping them alive when there is little chance for them to return to normal…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays