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 is more available to those that need it: "As a society, we should pay workers to provide that care, in the home" (Johnson 2003: 9).
Philosopher James Rachels provides...
Case: Fetal Abnormality1In the Christian view, human persons are understood as having intrinsic value and dignity because they are made in the image and likeness of God. This view holds that human life is sacred from conception until natural death, a concept often associated with the Sanctity of Life theory (Lockhart et al., 2023). This theory ascribes moral status to all humans regardless of their abilities, condition, or development. It
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
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