PHIL 356 Lecture 21: Lecture 21
Document Summary
Rachel"s response to the claim that active voluntary euthanasia is morally worse than passive voluntary euthanasia because the latter involves letting nature take its course and the former involves interfering with the course of nature. In both cases what the doctor does reflects her decision to hasten the patient"s death. This decision should be the focus of moral assessment. (was it justified?) So, 3) people have a moral right to control the conditions of their death. Brock: disconnecting, withdrawing life-sustaining treatment is not the same as letting die. Does it support a doctor"s right to help a patient end his/her life when, after careful thought, she/he concludes it is not worth living on. 2i) no less true of passive voluntary euthanasia. 2ii) the law would apply only to those who request to die, and there won"t be many such people. 4: focus of fiensberg discussion (we"ll talk about on wednesday)
