Euthanasia

This topic is similar to the abortion debate in that I find myself in the middle of an argument that is clearly not as black and white as I assumed. We have four different types of euthanasia, each which its own arsenal of situational thought experiments and rationalizations, and subsequently each with its own ethical justifications. Like the abortion debate, I was mainly concerned with the autonomy of the individual, claiming that we should have the ultimate control over our own bodies…no matter what. While I still tend to be more pro-euthanasia than not, I find my reasoning do not rely solely on the autonomy of the individual. My biggest roadblock with writing about these ethical dilemmas is that while I may have a lot of thoughts or opinions, I do not know what underlying beliefs these opinions are tied to. Boss does a good job explaining how the “Philosophers on Euthanasia” felt about the topic, but I feel that is merely the starting point for evaluating dilemmas like this. I have yet to see how the relationship between ethics, dilemmas, beliefs, laws, and public policy all come together; and if I can be honest, sometimes I feel like taking the “what’s the point” approach to these issues as they seem to have no clear answers or resolutions. The best option I can come up with is one where I use ethics to help me decide which beliefs I really hold true. Whether my beliefs are the practiced or agreed upon beliefs is irrelevant, what matters here is that I have come to a comfortable conclusion based on reason.
For the purposes of this journal I would like to focus on physician-assisted suicide (PAS), one of the types of active euthanasia. PAS is when the physician assists the patient in bringing about his or her own death; according to Boss, a situation most Americans are “split over” in regards to the ethics. Like abortion, the end result will ultimately be a reflection of the beliefs of the individual. One argument against PAS is the sanctity of life argument that states “human life has intrinsic worth.” The proponents of this argument claim that legalizing euthanasia will weaken the respect for human life. On the surface this seems like a sound, philosophical, argument and it advocates a certain amount of humanity. But is this argument realistic? While I understand the concern that legalizing euthanasia may be a shock to some, I think it is a slippery slope to claim that respect for human life will be weakened as a result. We’ve talked about this in class in regards to other situations; if we choose not to make a decision (such as legalizing PAS) only because of the fear of a particular outcome, then we will find it very hard to make progress in not only moral dilemmas, but social, scientific and political arenas as well. Boss states many “western philosophers” hold the sanctity of life position, but how many western philosophers are the ones directly affected by the act of euthanasia? What I mean here is, because this is such a delicate subject, wouldn’t it be more pragmatic to allow people to follow their own beliefs rather than creating an imposition of ours? An easier way for me to defend this argument is to assume the position of a terminally ill patient who is seeking a “good death.” Let’s assume I have become ill with brain cancer and subsequently diagnosed and given a meager prognosis. If I requested information on PAS and denied by a doctor that claimed human life has intrinsic worth, I would probably reflexively question the intrinsic worth of my life and dying body. I can’t say for certain, because I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s like to be in an incredible amount of pain or suffering, but something tells me, based on everything I currently believe in, that I don’t think I would want to endure the long and painful death.
Part of me feels that the dying should be treated with a certain amount of respect and an understanding that life has come to its inevitable end. As of now I don’t agree that the end of a person’s life is the time to inject moral debate, personal beliefs, or social norms. Because of this, I think PAS should at least be considered as an option for those in need. With that said, and much like my position on abortion, I feel that this particular issue should be looked at from the moral perspective to discuss, but from the social perspective to solve.

Ethical Egoism

What immediately stands out to me in regards to psychological egoism is the fact that it leaves no real opening for objective analysis. It has already been decided that the motivation for every action is influenced by self-interest. Self-interest is the predetermined explanation for every action moving forward. Because this is a descriptive theory (telling us what “is”) and because the motivation behind any action will always be self-interest, this particular theory allows us little opportunity to try and discover right and wrong. Instead this theory makes a claim similar to “it is what it is” which doesn’t provide us much in the way of critical thinking. One can find a way to argue “self-interest” for every example imaginable, however, the fact of the matter is that simply claiming a fact (such as: an act is motivated by self-interest) does not necessarily make it empirically true. If every reason for every action has already been predetermined, is it possible there is such a thing as free will? One can argue that serving the good of self could be considered free will, however, my understanding of the definition of free will is that we are allowed the opportunity to make decisions as long as we are prepared to be judged by those decisions and accept the consequences of our choices. If all actions have a predetermined underlying reason, can human actions even be morally judged?
Because ethical egoism is normative and not descriptive in nature, it actually provides an opportunity for a more empirical analysis. What I like about this theory is the fact that it does not seem to eliminate free will. We are allowed to make decisions based on our own self interests and ethical egoism seems to promote this fairly well while encouraging personal responsibility. If each person were given the fair chance to pursue his own goals (self-interests,) I think as a social whole, we would be much more successful. This wouldn’t work in an economic structure (we can see examples of this today) where people are segregated based on access to resources. Are children in Rwanda really given the same chance (access to resources) as a child born into wealth? Rand’s “hands-off” approach in rational ethical egoism takes this thought a bit further by actually negating the actions of altruists. Although this idea may make sense in regards to maintaining economic stability if we were in fact members of a laissez-faire system, it does not seem to provide insight on how to reach that particular level of economic and social success. Claiming that acts of altruism toward “lesser” individuals only promotes charity seems almost Darwinian in nature. I would like more insight on Rand’s take in regards to physically and/or mentally ill humans. Should we not perform acts of altruism towards those who cannot act on their own behalf? Although ethical egoism appears to be more objective than psychological egoism, it still leaves questions in regards to actual morality. Ethical egoism (like psychological egoism) does not provide us with any moral guidelines for solving disputes. If a man ethical egoist and a woman ethical egoist were the last two people on the planet and they were not attracted to each other, would they suck it up and procreate or would the human race die out?

Morality and Religion: Divine Command Theory

“Many people look to religion for moral guidance.” To me this statement only solidifies my belief that religion, in many ways, can be used as nothing more than a scapegoat for people to pass the buck when it comes to being morally responsible.
The text states “there are no independent, universal moral standards by which to judge God’s commands,” (Divine Command) which potentially means that any action, be it rape, genocide, etc., could be deemed acceptable simply because God approved it. This is a fairly powerful statement that puts us all at risk to potentially disastrous ramifications. My main concern with this theory is that not only does it not tell us (believers or non-believers) what is right and what is wrong, it doesn’t even give substantial and applicable ethical or moral guidelines to adhere to. I find it hard to believe that if there is a God, that his/her strategic all powerful decision would be to ensure that no moral guidelines are available for us humans, other than the Ten Commandments which have been passed down through centuries and numerous languages, and individually deciphered by man. This doesn’t necessarily prove God infallible, but it doesn’t help an argument to prove his existence. Another concern with this theory is that there is no way to prove any act to be (or not to be) approved by God. In other words, any individual could take the position that the heinous act they committed was done in God’s eye with potentially no moral recourse (9/11 terrorists.) An act that potentially withstands moral recourse (meaning it was approved by God,) but is still subject to man’s law and subsequently the consequences deemed appropriate by mans law, is what makes this theory fail the first test sentence of the meta-ethical procedure used to determine universality. Furthermore, the mere structure of this theory allows us the opportunity to become complacent in regards to developing, instilling, and practicing a sound moral lifestyle. Assuming that a Divine Theorist follows the word of God (via the ten Commandments), because of the nature and message of the Commandments themselves, it is possible that a multitude of other morally “challenging” situations can arise with little to no guidance on how to deal with them. Having a list of guidelines, is absolutely a positive factor. Not only does it provide some moral guidance, it also gives good reason to have faith for those who choose it (the Commandments are said to be the actual words of God.) My issue remains in the lack of substance within the Commandments themselves. Although they cover a wide range of pertinent and valuable issues, they simply are not enough to build a strong moral foundation. Having a list of guidelines, while a good start, can be counteractive in the fact that if they are perceived to be the “end all be all” to morality, those very guidelines can limit our desire to strive for moral maturity.

Introduction to Moral Theories

I didn’t make it past the first page before Stanley Milgram’s excerpt (Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs…) provoked a seemingly endless and consuming thought process. If I interpreted Milgram’s thoughts correctly, he is inferring that all people, regardless of background and/or status have the potential to carry out immoral behavior. Based on his conclusion I immediately thought of all the young soldiers and the myriad of potentially problematic issues that may arise when ordinary people are asked to do extraordinary things.
Although not true in every case, a somewhat typical story of a soldier may entail: leaving for military duty at an extremely young age, being separated from family (sometimes for the first time ever,) undergoing a “culture shock” or paradigm shift, being put into an extraordinary situation with little to no moral or ethical foundation, being left to suffer the damaging consequences of his or her actions. I can surmise that members of the armed forces are taught to “act without thinking” and follow orders without questioning. For the objective of completing a mission without risking the lives of others, I can see the validity in this method of training. My quandary resides with my concern over the lack of foundation these ill-equipped young men and women possess. If we were to assume that a large portion of soldiers come from an age demographic of seventeen to twenty-five years of age, it is fair that we ask ourselves about the kind of moral/ethical foundation they can possibly have. Of course some are more ethically “mature” than others, but I do not believe that accounts for the majority.

Taking into consideration the fact that many service members may not bear a desirable amount of moral fiber, I have to question the validity of the exceptional amount of pressure these young men and women are forced to deal with. If I were to take a seventeen or eighteen-year old boy from a small southern town (who may have lived a relatively sheltered life) and put that boy in a situation where he follows orders blindly (without question) and was forced to experience something as formidable as say, taking the life of another human being; it would be highly presumptuous of me to assume that it would not have a high emotional effect on that child. Where is the morality behind that scenario? It’s difficult for me to believe that issues such as PTSD, depression, and suicide among military members, actually surprise anyone. What frustrates me further is the fact that so many people (including non-military personnel) are oblivious to many of the real reasons as to why we engage in certain acts of war. It saddens me to think that we may be putting American children at risk for potential long-term psychological issues while taking full advantage of the fact that they lack the resources to challenge or question the bigger picture.
Being exposed to a number of experiences in my life, both personal and professional, I have seen the tremendous importance of a solid foundation. In order to achieve a high level of moral or ethical capacity, one must first obtain a sound foundation. Strong foundations (across many applications) begin with parenting and child rearing. The longer children are denied the opportunity to grow both morally and mentally, the harder it is to attain a high level of moral and/or ethical achievement.