Runninghead : Active Voluntary Euthanasia

Active Voluntary Euthanasia

Active voluntary Euthanasia

Introduction

Euthanasia stimulates questions over bravery and weakness, glory and defeat, and poise and pain. Eventually, the euthanasia discussion becomes the ultimate question of humanity, and who an individual is as well as their values. The question raised is whether we are our own masters, or the universe rules us with its unprecedented ways. End of life decisions all spiral back to the debate over euthanasia. Must one follow in the footsteps of Job or Prometheus, the former of which debate that euthanasia is a dangerous concept that can only have a negative bearing, while the latter considers the Greek meaning of the term which means “good death”. However, modern society dictates that the moral conduct of a nation be against euthanasia, and most cultures around the world consider their moral foundations to be against it. According to Joseph Campbell, the bible's loyalty remains to God and not to mankind, but the Greek's favor euthanasia and other such concepts because their loyalty lies with man and man alone, regardless of the deities they are surrounded by.

Discussion

Contemporary Western customs have gradually become a mix of the aforementioned perspectives, although both are polar opposites. Campbell further iterates that throughout the weekdays, the Greeks continued to be humanists as modern society is, however for half an hour on a Sunday, they became Levantines, with the Prophets. There seems to be a lack of ethical discussion in modern western culture that could exemplify this elementary theoretical disagreement more than the discussion over the power to make life-ending decisions. From the recent popular cases of Karen Ann Quinlan to Terri Schiavo, the debate has been reaching boiling points with families as well as court, legislatures and societies around the world. The question arises about when it becomes socially acceptable to allow an individual to walk to their own deaths, or fulfill their requests to end their life for them( Foley, 2006).

The general constitution against it is that it is the same as murder, especially among those who have fought against diseases and won. Life is seen as a precious gift and among the religious societies, it is seen as a blasphemous concept to decide to end it of ones own accord. In fact, in Christianity and many other religions, it is a sin to commit suicide which is how the religious factions see euthanasia as such. Another question often asked is whether it is ever considered acceptable to quicken the death of an individual without having asked their permission, or doing it against their will to save them from further pain. If a person is incapable of making a decision, the debate is over whether or not it is in anyone else's hands to end a life, what if the ailing individual has no inclination of wanting to die because of their predicament. But in this case, what can be done? How will the concerned doctors or persons come to a decision if the patient is incapable of conscious ...