Euthanasia - Theory and Practice

Paper Summary:

This paper explains how the rise of advanced technologies in the medical field, especially those that sustains life, has brought issues in the ethics and morality of those involved in the field of medicine. It discusses how the most significant to these issues is the practice of Euthanasia on patients diagnosed to have no chance of surviving and regaining life after any treatment has been implemented. In view of the issues on Euthanasia, this paper presents a discussion of this medical practice by analyzing the stands and views of Ned Cassem, James Rachel, Sidney Hook, and Leon R. Kass. This paper also explains the meaning of "good death" as mentioned by Ned Cassem.

From the Paper:

"On many medical books and dictionaries, "euthanasia" or "mercy-killing" is defined as ending a life of a terminally ill patient by ways such as removing life support machines or stopping treatments that somehow prolongs life. The basic reason why euthanasia is performed on terminally ill patients is to end their prolonged suffering. There are two basic types of euthanasia: passive euthanasia and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is the act of discontinuing artificial life support treatments, thus allowing a natural death to take place. This process is sometimes referred to as "pulling the plug". Active euthanasia on the other hand is the direct killing of a patient either by himself, also known as "self-deliverance", or by another person, as in the case of a physician assisting suicide."

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