Socrates’s Argument on Death The topic of death frightens human beings for several reasons because of the speculation and the anxiety that surround death. Even though most people fear death, philosophers such as Socrates argue that there is no valid reason to fear death (Ahrensdorf 1995). According to 5Socrates, death is a blessing in the context of the relocation of the soul. Socrates avers that death is something that people should not fear and provide several arguments to validate his…
It is clear that the utmost importance in any medical context is the relationship between the healthcare practitioner and the patient. The duty of a physician is to adhere to certain principles of medical ethics namely the principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. By examining the case study involving Dr. Nancy Morrison, one can observe that these principles are often ambiguous when referring to the issue of whether she committed voluntary active euthanasia or…
Question 5 Should Euthanasia be Legalised: The Case Study of Johan Wright Euthanasia – the act referred as easy or painless death, is the known practice of deliberate ending of life of a person suffering from incurable disease or condition (Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 2009). Over the years, euthanasia served as an option to not only those who suffer from incurable disease and pain, but also to individuals who are “done with life” in countries that have legalised assisted suicide. This essay…
to make decision to withdraw medical treatment for an incompetent patient? Fong Tsz Yang 15002689 NUR 3002 Ethical and Legal Aspects of Health Care Tung Wah College Is it moral to make decision to withdraw medical treatment for an incompetent patient? Introduction This paper is going to evaluate the morality of making a decision to withdraw medical treatment for an incompetent patient, the case of Robert Wendland, based on ethical theories, principles in medical ethics, capacity and…
Thomas Nagel believed that death itself is not bad but what is bad about dying is that your life is taken away from you. Another position that Nagel had was that death is simply a state of non-existence and is not bad. The reason he thought that was because death and conscious life are mutually exclusive states. Nagels assumption was that death is the permanent end of our existence of our organic and conscious self. Epicures believed that death is nothing to us and that it was neither good or…
Being a doctor has always been a dream of mine. I love the sciences and I also love helping people. More importantly, this can be because I can compare my characteristics and personality as similar to that of a doctor. These include being patient, confident, and knowledgeable. However other qualities that I admire the most of a doctor is being caring and compassionate. My drive for wanting to be a doctor comes from numerous experiences in my life. These experiences varied from me being the…
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. For example, killing someone by directly giving them a fatal amount of medication to cause an overdose. Passive…
McMahan's account of the badness of death is a modification of the deprivation account, as he tries to solve what he considers a problem for this account, namely, the badness of death for fetuses and newborns. As we have seen, the deprivation account evaluates the badness of death based on the amount of good the person loses when they die. Death is a misfortune if the person loses a future with a positive balance of well-being: the more positive well-being lost, the greater the misfortune.…
“Death and Dying” Critical Analysis The chapter “Death and Dying” explores the evolution of the definition of a “good” death and a “bad” death, care of the dying, and the sentiment and definition of death itself Cole 104). With medical advancements came a shift in each of these areas, which further strained already weak the doctor-patient relationship. For the majority of human history, a “good” death meant dying peacefully in sleep in the home, this was called a “tame death” in the Middle…
Do you think it is morally acceptable for a doctor to treat a patient against their wishes or choices? If so, what justifies the action, and under which conditions is it acceptable? And if it’s not, why? Personally, I think it is a tough question for us to answer. When we consider these situations based on the morality, we can see that these concepts lie at a strong and weak paternalism, which are two philosophies involving when a doctor can ignore the patient's will. The only difference…