Amputees By Choice Summary

“Amputees by Choice” written by Bayne and Levy, conists of an unusual topic. Bayne and Levy examine and discuss two basic questions. The first question they look into is the motivations people to have a perfectly healthy limb amputated? The other question concerns what circumstances would a doctor comply with a patients’ wish to get a limb amputated. Along with the other two questions, Levy and Bayne discuss other erratic cases involving the amputation of one’s limbs. More specifically, Levy and Bayne attempt to define and analyze Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). This disorder occurs when people think incorrectly about their healthy limbs. In addition to BDD, Apotemnophiles are sexually attracted to amputees, and are sexually excited by the fact that maybe becoming an amputee as well.

Throughout this paper I will examine three different ethical views and interpret the ways in which one would respond to the scenario at hand. The initial ethical view is composed of cultural relativism. Another view is Kantian ethics. The final view involves utilitarianism. When presenting these views, I will describe each ethical view, and also I will speak abouts how a person who abides by the given ethical view would respond to the situation.

The first ethical view is cultural relativism. A cultural relativist view is one in

These cultural relativists follow something called descriptive relativism, which states that different cultures have different moral codes, which they follow. In the “Amputees by choice” article, cultural relativists would only agree with a person to amputate his/her limbs if and only if the moral code of their culture agreed with amputation. If amputation were frowned upon in this person’s culture, the cultural relativist would not be in favor of amputation because the moral code of the culture does not support