SINGER
Euthanasia
The Singer debate 'are there some lives not worth living:'
The sanctity of life and utilitarianism
Professor Peter Singer is a well-known utilitarian who advocates the right of parents to commit infanticide based upon utilitarian premises: he argues that the resources expended by keeping such children alive are too great and it would make more sense to allow families to adopt instead healthy children with a greater chance at happiness. Disability activist Harriet McBryde Johnson, who says that she would not be alive if this type of calculus had been employed notes: "But like the protagonist in a classical drama, Singer has his flaw. It is his unexamined assumption that disabled people are inherently 'worse off,' that we 'suffer,' that we have lesser 'prospects of a happy life'" (Johnson 2003: 12). However, Johnson also argues against assisted suicide entirely, even with the consent of the person who feels that his or her life is no longer worth living. She argues instead for a society where care...
The problem with infanticide, Rachels would likely counter, is that the infant has no ability to consent as to whether his or her life is meaningful at life's beginning. This is very different at the end of life, or after a time of profound suffering. Rachels admits that a strictly utilitarian argument along the lines of Singer can lead one to untenable premises, such as the notion that someone who was miserable would be better off dead. However, a possible response to this objection would be that psychological misery is a transient state while a terminal illness cannot, by definition, be alleviated. The objective of utilitarianism is not the erasure of all pain but the spirit of utilitarianism does call upon us to ask the question: if someone is dying from a terminal illness and wishes to die, is societal happiness promoted by forcing him or her to use heroic measures? Signer would no doubt add that resources are finite and could be better used to prolong the lives of those who actually wished to live.
Ultimately, the question 'are…
References
Doerflinger, J. (1989). Assisted suicide: Pro-choice or anti-life?
Johnson, H. (2003). Unspeakable conversations. The New York Times.
Rachels, J. (1986). The morality of euthanasia.
Therefore, the utilitarian would likely object on moral grounds to any late-term abortive procedure that would cause the fetus pain, even if the balance of objective moral good suggests that aborting a seriously defective fetus. Other than the issue of causing pain to the fetus, the utilitarian position would also consider the long-term subjective experience of living with a severe defect, which might also be quite painful on more than
Good Life What is Good Life? The Consequentialism Debate Utilitarian reasoning is regarded as "consequentialist." The other approach of human actions' analysis is called "deontologist" reasoning. Utilitarian and deontological reasoning have very little in common. They are similar only in the sense that they both attempt to establish which human actions are appropriate and which ones are not. Apart from that, there is no other similarity. The differences arise in their adopted
Gay marriage is a topical and controversial issue, as evidenced by the subject's coverage in the media, presence on ballot initiatives and the high visibility of the controversy in general. There are a few different ethical issues where gay marriage is concerned. To opponents, the primary ethical issue relates to concepts such as the sanctity of marriage and the survival of the species. For proponents, the ethical issues are greater,
Ethics The Terri Schiavo case was an unusual incident where a person who should have been removed from life support long ago was sustained due to federal and public intervention. The case instigates moral and ethical questions of decision to end life as well as the limits of autonomy in surrogate decision making. Torke et al. (2008) argue that guardian judgment is often used as decision-making when a patient lacks the
Ethics and the Legal Environment George Mackee has a problem. His wife is after him, his boss is after him, and one day soon, the whole community of Hondo, Texas may be after him. George has one very large, very simple problem: He works for Ardnak Plastics, Inc. Ardnack Plastics is a small manufacturing company making small parts for small machinery, yet its corporate problems are far larger. In the wake
Every act happens at some time and in some place, and in like manner every act that we do either does or may affect both ourselves and others." Still others try to rebuff these objections, clarifying self-regarding acts and other-regarding acts. J.C. Rees is at the helm of the counter-movement of interpretations, arguing that there is a distinguishable difference between actions that affect others and those that affect others' interests; he purports
