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Euthanasia
See the Academy Conferences website for
this year’s conference details:
http://ethics.academyconferences.com
Key Issue 1.
 Is killing somebody, who is in the process of dying,
morally the same as allowing them to die?
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 An elderly patient in some pain with 2 weeks to live.
 Morphine is given to control the pain.
 Is there any moral difference between allowing the
elderly patient to die, without pain, over a period of
two weeks, and giving the patient a lethal injection
which will kill them tonight?
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Key Issue 2
Rights of Patient
•or
Rights of Medics
“WE PREFER NOT TO
KILL OUR PATIENTS”
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Key Issue 3
HOW ARE THE ‘PREFERENCES’ OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO BE
BALANCED AGAINST THE PERCEIVED RISKS
TO COMMON GOOD?
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Key issue 4
 Are humans animals really? If so then, we put
animals down, why not humans?
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EUTHANASIA
INDIVIDU
AL
RIGHTS
PRIMARY
KILLING
IS THE
SAME AS
ALLOWIN
G TO DIE
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HUMANS
ARE
ANIMALS
AND
NOTHING
MORE
NO
EUTHANASIA
INDIVIDU
AL
RIGHTS
CAN BE
LIMITED.
ALLOWIN
G TO DIE
IS
MORALL
Y
DIFFERE
NT FROM
KILLING
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HUMANS
ARE FAR
MORE
THAN
ANIMALS
Active Euthanasia
Voluntary
Non Voluntary
Involuntary
Lilian Boyes vs Dr Cox
– Potassium
choloride1992
John Pearson a
downs child DF118
Dr Shipman 1999
Diamorphine (Heroin)
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Non-voluntary Active
Euthanasia
The person is unable to
express their wishes.
A person in a coma, given a
lethal injection.
A baby, perhaps with Downs or
disabled, given a lethal injection.
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Involuntary Active Euthanasia
Nellie ‘Mary’ Pickford and 5
others ‘died’ unexpectedly at
Parkfields Care home.
Rachel and Leigh Baker
arrested.
 Dr Harold Shipman killed
215 – 250 people
The person is able to
express their wishes but
Is not consulted.
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Legislation
 Current legislation forbids all forms of active
euthanasia.
 The Netherlands has the most developed
active euthanasia programme in the world.
 Only voluntary euthanasia comes under their
legislation but, in practise, according to their
own reports, all forms of active euthanasia are
done.
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Passive Euthanasia
Voluntary
Patient decides to
refuse treatment.
Non Voluntary –
Involuntary –
patient cannot be
consulted.
patient not consulted.
Intensive care patient
has medical support
withdrawn.
Medical decision not
to offer treatment.
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Non-voluntary Passive
Euthanasia
The person is unable to
express their wishes.
Tony Bland PVS patient
Baby Doe - parents refused
Treatment for tracheo
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X
Involuntary Passive Euthanasia
 An elderly patient with 2 weeks to live.
 Passes out of consciousness.
 Medical decision not to resuscitate.
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Legislation
 Current legislation allows all sorts of ‘passive
euthanasia’.
 It is not usually called euthanasia, but ‘allowing
to die’.
 The pro-euthanasia lobby argue that
euthanasia goes on all the time.
 They are referring to passive euthanasia,
whereby a decision is made not to treat, or to
withdraw treatment.
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Utilitarianism
and euthanasia
Utilitarianism
 Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which claims
that the morality of our actions depends on
their consequences.
 If an elderly person is in the final stages of life
and has 2 weeks to live, is there any
difference between giving a lethal injection
tonight or letting them die slowly?
 The Utilitarian argues NO! They are the same,
because the consequences are the same. The
person dies.
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James Rachels 30 May 1941 - 5 Sep 2003
 Smith and Jones stand to gain a great
deal of money on the death of their 6
year old cousin
 Imagine they plan separately to kill their
cousin.
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Smith goes up and drowns their
cousin in the bath.
(Active euthanasia – the doctor takes
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positivePPaction
to kill.)
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Jones goes up with the
intention of drowning his
cousin, but finds the boy
has banged his head,
fallen and is unconscious
drowning in the bath.
Jones does nothing and
the boy dies.
Passive euthanasia – the doctor
omits treatment and allows to die.
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James Rachels
 Rachels uses this example to show that it
would be ridiculous to say that Smith is a
murderer and Jones not.
 The consequences of their acting/not
acting makes them morally the same
because the result is the same.
 IF consequences are the only morally
relevant factor he is right.
 Once you say this there is no difference
between active and passive euthanasia.

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ACTIVE / PASSIVE
No Moral Significance
 “Stripped of all other differences, what remains is…a
difference that has no moral significance. In active
euthanasia the doctor initiates a course of events
that will lead to the patients death. In letting die (or
passive euthanasia) the agent stands back and lets
nature take her sometimes cruel course. Is letting die
morally better than active euthanasia? I think not.
Very often it is much worse.”


Helga Kuhse; Case for Active Vol. Euth. 87
Passive euthanasia, or allowing to die, happens all
the time so why not
active euthanasia? Peter Singer
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Utilitarianism
 For utilitarian's the good action is that
which brings about the greatest good for
the greatest number.
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Greatest good for greatest
number?
 John Pearson was born with Down’s on 28.7.1980. His
mother remarked “I don’t want it, duck”
 Down’s apart there were no clinically detectable
abnormalities
 Dr Arthur recorded: “Parents do not wish baby to
survive. Nursing care only.”
 Dr Arthur prescribed DF118,the infant was given
 water but no nourishment and antibiotics were
withheld when broncho-pneumonia developed
 John Pearson died three days after birth
 Dr Arthur charged with murder, changed to attempted
murder, as DF118PP may
not
have
caused death.
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Greatest Good
for Greatest
number?
Retarded or ‘unfit to
breed’.
Homosexuals.
Disabled.
Gypsies.
Jews.
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Utilitarian contribution
§ Consequences are vital.
§ For the Utilitarian human life is not sacred – we put
animals out of their misery.
§ Consider how best to reduce pain and create
pleasure.
§ Stress on pleasure over pain may mean helping
to die rather than prolonging suffering.
§ Creating the greatest good for the greatest number
may mean carefully evaluating the use of medical
resources, and helping to die.
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 There are
already some
utilitarian
voices
suggesting that
treatment for
the elderly be
restricted.
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Rule Utilitarianism - Mill
 Euthanasia IS against the LAW and the rule
utilitarian will not break the law but work to
change it if needed.
 Any higher pleasures which can be
experienced by the sick person must be
weighed into a decision.
 The long term consequences of allowing
euthanasia would also be put into a
decision.
 The German experience and the Dutch
experience might well persuade a utilitarian
not to opt for the legalisation of active
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euthanasia.
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Holland
‘Abuse is the norm.’
"LEBENSUNWERTES LEBEN" – Life
Unworthy of Life. HELNWEIN'S OPEN LETTER TO
EUTHANASIA DOCTOR HEINRICH GROSS
Once active euthanasia is
accepted the question
is then one of quality of
life. Which life is
sufficiently
worthy of being lived?
Which life is not?
Austria's number one forensic psychiatrist admitted putting
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poison in children’s food.
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The Missing Link in Utilitarian
Case.
 Smith and Jones intended to murder and
inherit from their cousin.
 WHAT IF we change the story.
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What if Jones did not want to inherit
from his cousin, and had no intention
of killing his cousin in the bath. He
went up and found him unconscious
in the water and did nothing, because
he thought there was nothing to be
done. Is he still a murderer?
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Winston Nesbitt
Jones is now
far more
representative
of our doctors.
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The Missing Link in Utilitarian
Case.
 The consequences of Jones’ actions are
the same as before – the cousin dies.
 Jones’ different motive means he is not
a murderer.
 This means that morality is not to be
judged solely on the basis of
consequences as James Rachels, and
Utilitarianism claims.
 Motive is a vital indicator.
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