Lecture 10

Question 1

define euthanasia

Answer 1

bringing about the death of a person for that person’s sake

Question 2

what are the main types of euthanasia

Answer 2

active and passive

Question 3

what is active

Answer 3

the someone (usually a doctor) performs an act that brings about the death of the person

Question 4

what are examples of active

Answer 4

giving a patient a lethal injection
physician-assisted suicide (in these cases, the doctor prescribes a drug to the patient, but the final act is performed by the patient)

Question 5

what is passive

Answer 5

allowing someone to die by not performing an action

Question 6

what are some examples of passive

Answer 6

removing a patient’s feeding tube or respirator
failing to perform a surgery
refraining from giving life saving antibiotics
unplugging a patient

Question 7

what are the further classifications of euthanasia

Answer 7

voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia and involuntary

Question 8

what is voluntary

Answer 8

when a competent patient consents to his or her death

Question 9

what is non-voluntary

Answer 9

when a patient is not competent to make life and death decisions

Question 10

what is an example of non-voluntary euthanasia

Answer 10

for infants and people in a coma

Question 11

what is involuntary

Answer 11

bringing about a patient’s death against his or her will

Question 12

what kind of principle is the doctrine of doing and allowing

Answer 12

this is only a deontologist principle

consiequentialsts see it having the same outcome so no difference

Question 13

what is the doctrine of doing and allowing

Answer 13

doing something bad is worse than allowing it to happen
and
doing something good is better than allowing it to happen

Question 14

what can the doctrine of doing and allowing explain

Answer 14

the difference between 2 thought experiments, the trolley and the transplant

Question 15

what are Rache;s criticisms of

Answer 15

the view that active euthanasia is wrong while passive euthanasia is permissible

Question 16

how many criticisms does Rachels have

Answer 16

4

Question 17

what is the first criticism Rachels has

Answer 17

active euthanasia is sometimes better than passive euthanasia because it entails less suffering (a consequentialist argument)

Question 18

what are examples of rachels first criticism

Answer 18

the patient with a cancer of the throat (will live 2 weeks with suffering, or can die right away no suffering )

the infant with down’s syndrome (comes with an intestinal obstruction that doesnt allow them to digest their food; some popped in these cases do not operate on the infant and let it die; rachels says that active is better because then it doesnt suffer)