Chapter 10: Euthanasia

1. Chapter 10: Euthanasia • Confusion can come over questions like: - Whether someone is dead or ought to be considered dead - Whether it is permissible to do things which might hasten death • Key Concepts: Brain Death, Coma and PVS • Euthanasia: Active vs. Passive • Quinlan • Cruzan • The Dutch legalization of active euthanasia

2. Chapter 10: continued • Euthanasia – means “good death” - but what does a good death mean? - passive euthanasia - active euthanasia - involuntary euthanasia • Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) • Kevorkian • The AMA position • Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act • Pain Medication that Causes Death • Double effect

3. Chapter 10: continued • Pain Medication that Causes Death • The principle of Double Effect • Other advances in treating pain • Ordinary vs. Extraordinary Measures • Voluntary and Nonvoluntary Euthanasia • Living will • Durable power of attorney • Do not resuscitate (DNR)

4. Chapter 10: continued • Combining the Types of Euthanasia • Three types of voluntary euthanasia • Three types of nonvoluntary euthanasia • Morality and the Law - everything immoral is not illegal • Making Moral Judgments about Euthanasia - Consequentialist vs nonconsequentialist considerations

5. Chapter 10: continued • Active vs. passive euthanasia • Consequentialist concerns • Nonconsequentialist concerns • Ordinary vs. extraordinary measures • Infant euthanasia

6. Chapter 10: continued • Reading: The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia • Euthanasia as intentionally taking the life of a presumably hopeless person Arguments against euthanasia • The argument from nature • The argument from self-interest • The argument form practical effects

7. Chapter 10: continued • Reading: Active and Passive Euthanasia • The official position of the AMA in 1973 • The argument of the painfulness of passive euthanasia • The argument of decisions about life and death made on irrelevant grounds • The case of Down’s syndrome babies • The cases of Smith and Jones

8. Chapter 10: continued • Responses to the claim that, morally speaking, killing is no different than letting die • In passive euthanasia the doctor does nothing • In active euthanasia the doctor directly causes the patient’s death • The above is simply of academic interest

9. Chapter 10: continued • Reading: Buddhist Views of Suicide and Euthanasia • Recent Japanese discussion concerning bioethics and suicide. • Early Buddhist views of death, dying, and euthanasia • Religious suicide and death with dignity in Japan • Samurai, seppuku, and euthanasia • Safeguards that are defined