Running head: APPLICATION OF AN ETHICAL THEORY
Application of an Ethical Theory
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APPLICATION OF AN ETHICAL THEORY 2
Granting the people who are terminally ill the right to die has been debatable overtime. It is worth noting that people who are terminally ill have a limited period of time to live. As such, some parties argue that whether or not they continue living they will at long last die and hence it is only justifiable if they are given the right to decide whether to live or to die. Others argue that it is an equivalent people if terminally ill people are granted the right to die and hence it is unethical act. Applying the theory of deontology it is unethical to let people who are terminally ill have the right to die.
The theory of deontology is centered on the motives of the person who carries out a specific action. Kant (2008) provides that it is not the consequences attributable to a specific action that can be used as a basis of classifying the action right or wrong but rather it is the motive with the doer of the action did it. Kant argues that at times consequences of an action may contradict the intentions of the doer. Thus, desirable consequences may arise by coincidence from act whose doer wanted to undesirable consequences. Consequently, by bad luck undesirable consequences may arise from an act whose doer intended desirable consequences for the action.
Hence, this fact forms a basis on which Kant finds it justifiable to consider the motives of an individual when looking at the consequences of an act. Kant (2008) further adds that for an individual to act in a way that is considered moral h/she must act in respect of the moral law. He provides that an individual should act in a way that always upholds the sense of humanity and that the each individual should undertake to act out of their own goodwill in upholding humanity.
Applying the theory of deontology and provisions of Immanuel Kant renders it unethical to grant terminally ill people the right to die. As noted in the paragraph above, it is the motive of the doer of a specific act that determines whether the act is right or wrong and not the consequences that can be attributed to the specific act. Hence, the motive of granting terminally

APPLICATION OF AN ETHICAL THEORY ill people the right to die will be more or less a motive of killing which is unethical. Though terminally ill people may be granted the right to die as a course of action to save them from the
3 psychological torture that they may go through knowing that they will finally die, considering the motive the act will be unethical. It is also worth noting that according to Kant (2008) individual should act in respect to the moral law that requires that people should always act in a way that upholds the sense of humanity. Granting terminally ill people the right to die can be considered as being against humanity and hence this makes it justifiable to categorize it as being unethical.
Though granting terminally ill people the right to die is unethical in relation to the theory of deontology, it is worth noting that there are other factors which if taken into account can make it justifiable to grant terminally ill patients the right to die. For instance, it is worth noting that every individual has the right to determinism which means that an individual has the right to make decisions over his or her life insofar as the decisions do not violate the rights of others.
Hence, it may be considered justifiable to let competent patients who are terminally ill exercise their right to self determinism and hence grant them the right to die limiting the applicability of the deontology theory and the provisions of Immanuel Kant. Some parties argue that once a patient realizes that h/she is terminally ill they are prone to psychological torture since every time they may keep thinking that they ought to die. Such parties may find it justifiable to grant terminally ill individuals the right to die to save them all the psychological torture. Hence, it is justifiable to say that the application of deontology theory is subject to objections in this case.
The question of whether or not terminally ill patients should be given the right to die can have varied answers depending on the perspective from which it is viewed. Taking into account the principles of deontology theory and the provisions of Immanuel Kant granting terminally

APPLICATION OF AN ETHICAL THEORY persons the right to die will be unethical since it will be acting against the moral law. There are
4 objections to the deontology theory and the provisions of Immanuel Kant though. For instance, granting competent patients the right to self determinism can see them have the right to die if they are terminally ill. As such, it is evident that the question of whether or not terminally ill patients should have the right to die can have varied opinions from varied parties depending on the perspective from which the issue is viewed.

APPLICATION OF AN ETHICAL THEORY
References
Kant, I. (2008). Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals. Retrieved on 24 th February, 2015
5 from http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdfs/kant1785.pdf
Buchanan, A. (2003). Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for
International Law: Moral Foundations for International Law . Oxford University Press.