Can Euthanasia Be Justified Morally?

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Is the choice of individuals to end their lives dependent on anyone else but themselves? Or should a jury or the state truly have the omnipotent voice in such a personal endeavour?

Ethics can be elucidated as a set of moral principles, thusly the rules of conduct perceived by one or a society to be the right or wrong, the good or bad (as religiously termed evil). Several philosophers throughout history have attempted to define the term "morality" in various ways. Aristotle posits that the highest good is always an end and not the means, whilst Hobbes and Locke refute this concept, stating that what is essentially deemed good is all relative to the desires of the agent (the individual or entity) (Macintyre 1996: 57-157). The universally agreed meaning of morality might never be achieved but we can all consent to the "good" being apparent in all that is presumed to be moral. Euthanasia is the medical process of ending the life of a terminally ill insofar as to relieve their suffering. The medical utilization of euthanasia is an issue that has been overly discussed and debated, yet the general consensus of the goodness in its practice remains elusive. Arguments such as the defy of the will of God and the desecration of life is contended against its usage, whilst others appeal that it is the right of an individual to choose (essentially an individuals freewill). This article will examine two cases of biomedical euthanasia in recent years and attempt to achieve some manner of justification through the moral frameworks of Immanuel Kant's Deontological and Friedrich Hegel's Recognition. Is the choice of individuals to end their lives dependent on anyone else but themselves? Should a jury or the state truly have the omnipotent voice in...

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...t euthanasia present is one that cannot be simply answered, as a result, should we not be leaving the choice to an individual's freewill, for they are the bearers of their pain, which indirectly affects no one else but the individual.

Works Cited

Macintyre, A (1996).A short history of ethics. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc.. 190-199.

Docker, C. (1996-2000).Cases in history.Available: http://www.euthanasia.cc/cases.html. Last accessed 1st mar 2011.

Rothhaar, M. (2010). Human dignity and human rights in bioethics: the Kantian approach.Med Health Care and Philos. 13 (0), 251–257.

Stern,R (1990).Hegel, Kant and the Structure of the Object. London: Routledge. 45-54

Lawrenz, J. (2007). Hegel, Recognition and Rights: ‘Anerkennung ’ as a gridline of the philosophy of rights.Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy. 3 (2-3), 154-167.

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