A Philosophical Analysis Of Assisted Suicide Essay

A Philosophical Analysis of Assisted-Suicide The story of Brittany Maynard is a very tragic one. Brittany was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer at the tender age of 29. No treatment could save her life and the treatments that were available would have greatly affected her physically, emotionally, and mentally. This diagnoses stripped her of starting a future with her newly-married husband and simply experiencing life to the best of her ability. Knowing this, and knowing that her cancer would only get more aggressive with time—taking her sense of self, bit by bit everyday—what was she to do? Through research, she discovered death by dignity, which is an â€Å"end of life option for mentally competent, terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live† (Maynard). After relocating to Oregon (one of the few states that death by dignity is authorized) she received medication to take, in the event that she wanted to die on her own t erms. Brittany Maynard died just over a month to the date that her article was published by CNN. Unfortunately, this tragic and unfortunate story is more common than many people would think. Death by dignity and the choice of voluntarily ending one s life has always been a topic of much debate. This essay will be split into two joint parts. Firstly, I will identify and analyze two major ethical issues of the death with dignity debate, while looking at the contrasting viewpoints of Aristotle and Immanuel Kant.Show MoreRelatedThe Legalization Of Physician Assisted Death1173 Words   |  5 Pages The idea of committing euthanasia and physician- assisted suicide (PAS) had a historical root in the nineteenth century and referred as skillful alleviation of suffering1 in Latin transcripts. Recently the theme of the legalization of physician-assisted death (PAD) in Canada boosted in 2012. The decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court in the case of Carter v. 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What determines the correct course of action to take when faced with a difficult dilemma? Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher of morality, came up with his own answer to this question. He determined that the correct course of action is always whichever one will satisfy the greatest amount of people. Bentham refers to this satisfaction as utility. Based on this idea, he constructedRead MoreCase Study: Medical Ethics3528 Words   |  14 Pagesindeed an instance of Euthanasia, so that her excruciating pain and shackling dependence on life support be put to an end. Also explained in the comprehensive article are different types of Euthanasia. Mercy killing (also often termed Physician Assisted Suicide); with the intention of putting an end to the misery of the chronically injured, diseased or incapacitated can be active, involuntary or passive. Active Euthanasia is when a person explicitly requests f or death via immediate and direct action