PHI 2396 Lecture Notes - James Rachels, Euthanasia, Sue Rodriguez
Document Summary
9/02/2010: as of 2008, active euthanasia is legally permissible in belgium, luxemburg, the. Netherlands, and switzerland, the us state of oregon, the autonomous community of. Active and passive euthanasia (reprinted over 300 times since it was first. The main argument of rachel"s article is that there is not really a distinction between passive and active euthanasia from a moral point of view. So, if we allow passive euthanasia, we should allow active euthanasia as well. Rachel starts his article stating the fact that the medical community, as well as society in general, seem to accept passive euthanasia as legally and morally permissible. Passive euthanasia consists in cessation of treatment which will prolong the life of a serious ill patient. Rachels argues that, if we accept passive euthanasia as both legally and morally permissible, then we shouldn"t have problems with active euthanasia, either.
