Euthanasia and applying ethical theories Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk © Michael Lacewing

Euthanasia 6 types Involuntary, voluntary, non-voluntary Passive, active

Utilitarian thoughts Act utilitarianism Look at each act of euthanasia individually; not making a rule Involuntary: person doesn’t want to die, so is made unhappy by the thought of their death Voluntary: person does want to die, often believing they will be less unhappy by dying No significant difference between active and passive

Two practical points Morality v. legality Don’t get into metaethics Whether a practice should be legalized is a separate debate from whether it is moral acceptable. Don’t get into metaethics The premise of practical ethics is that we are searching for the (or a) right thing to do. So don’t start talking about relativism or subjectivism.

Deontology What kind of action is euthanasia? Slippery slope Active: more like murder, in that there is intervention to cause death Passive: often combined with intended pain relief Slippery slope An action that is permitted may incline people to perform actions that aren’t permitted.

Two more practical points Separate empirical (sociology, psychology) from philosophical Don’t spend long discussing whether or not the slippery slope would actually occur. The conclusion is often conditional It is not just acceptable, but good, to say ‘if it turns out like this, then this follows’. E.g. ‘if allowing voluntary euthanasia in some cases caused people to seek it wrongly, then it would be wrong to allow it at all’

Complexity So is voluntary euthanasia permissible? Utilitarianism Pro: Individual’s suffer differently Con: Allowing it has bad consequences, e.g. looking at better alternatives Deontology Pro: passive eu is not unjust, and is charitable Con: bringing about death unnecessarily is always wrong

Two final practical points Avoid oversimplification Normative theories might not deliver just one answer, but give reasons both for and against. Noting this is important for evaluation. Don’t say ‘Who knows? Who can say?’ You are the thinker – this is your attempt to try to say. Why think practical ethics should or could be easy?