Euthanasia
Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly putting to death persons who have incurable or painful diseases. The word euthanasia originated from the Greek language which when translated means: Eu- ?Good? and Thanatos-?Death? and is commonly called mercy killing. A distinction is made between active and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is the deliberate killing of a terminally ill person for the purpose of ending the suffering of that person while passive euthanasia is defined as the withholding of life preserving procedures and treatments that would prolong the life of one who is incurably and terminally ill and couldnt survive without them. I will be presenting the claims and views on this issue made by James Rachels and Richard Doerflinger. I will conclude by stating my position on the issue of euthanasia based on the views presented by the two writers.
According to Rachels, the most common argument in support of euthanasia is one that we may call ?the argument from mercy?. The argument from mercy says ?euthanasia is justified because it puts an end to that? (Rachels p.175). Following his introduction, Rachels presents a supporting belief by adding a utilitarian view. He states several points about the
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