PHIL 2Philosophy: Ethics in Contemporary Society
Week 3Topic Outlines
Week 3, PHIL2 3.2
Week 3 Moral Implications of Taking
Human Life – Chap. 8 Moral Implications of Allowing
Someone to Die – Chap. 9 Moral Implications of Abortion –
Chap. 10 Applying Humanitarian Ethics
Week 3, PHIL2 3.3
Topic 1: Moral Implications of Taking Human Life
Basic principles, rules, or guidelines to dealing with moral issues
Deciding to what extent an action is moral or immoral
Applying basic principles to specific moral problems and arguments for and against
Week 3, PHIL2 3.4
Basic Principles, Rules, or Guidelines to Dealing with Moral Issues
Value of Life Principle Principle of Goodness Principle of Justice Principle of Honesty and Truth
Telling Principle of Individual Freedom
Week 3, PHIL2 3.5
Deciding to What Extent an Action Is Moral or Immoral
Are five basic principles upheld or violated?
Is it rational? Does it result in the best interest of
everyone, yet avoid the end-justifies-the means problem?
Week 3, PHIL2 3.6
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against
Suicide Argument for:
A person is free to make decisions affecting his or her own body.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.7
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against (continued)
Arguments against: Suicide is irrational. Only God has the right to give and take
away life. Domino argument Survivors pay unjust penalty.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.8
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against (continued)
Killing in Defense of the Innocent Argument for:
People have a right and an obligation to protect innocent lives, their own included.
Arguments against: Violence breeds violence. The taking of human life is always wrong.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.9
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against (continued)
War Arguments for:
War is the best controller of overpopulation.
War is the mother of invention. War is a boon to economic gain and
national unity. The “just war” argument
Week 3, PHIL2 3.10
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against (continued)
War Arguments against:
War is a direct and massive violation of the Value of Life Principle.
War kills many innocent noncombatants, including children.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.11
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against (continued)
Terrorism Arguments for:
Nonviolent protest is ignored and ineffective.
Violent actions achieve recognition. Argument against:
Excessive violence, especially against the innocent, cannot be condoned.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.12
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against (continued)
Capital punishment Argument for:
It is an effective deterrent to crime. Why should we pay to support killers in
prison for long sentences? It puts teeth into the criminal law
enforcement system. Killers have forfeited their rights. Rehabilitation is useless. Justice demands an eye for an eye.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.13
Applying Principles to Specific Moral Problems; Arguments For and Against (continued)
Capital punishment Arguments against:
It is a violation of the Value of Life Principle. Killing a criminal does not recompense the
victim(s). It is not an effective deterrent to crime. It is possible to execute an innocent
person. The criminal is denied the chance for
rehabilitation.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.14
Topic 2: Moral Implications of Allowing Someone to Die
Mercy death and mercy killing Contributions of advanced medical
technology and litigious concerns Justification of allowing someone to
die, mercy death, and mercy killing
Week 3, PHIL2 3.15
Mercy Death and Mercy Killing “Allowing someone to die” means
not providing curative treatment when no cure is possible.
“Mercy death” means taking a direct action to terminate a person’s life because the person has requested it; an assisted suicide.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.16
Mercy Death and Mercy Killing “Mercy killing” means taking a
direct action to terminate a person’s life without that person’s permission or request.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.17
Contributions of Advanced Medical Technology and Litigious Concerns
Brain death: the brain is irreversibly damaged; the person “flatlines”
Persistent vegetative state or irreversible coma: cerebral cortex damage destroys cognitive function but the brain stem continues to support life function in the body
Week 3, PHIL2 3.18
Contributions of Advanced Medical Technology and Litigious Concerns
Legal status Mercy death is specifically prohibited in
32 states. Mercy killing is outlawed in all U.S.
states and most countries of the world. Medical technology can keep bodies
alive indefinitely without brain function.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.19
Justification of Allowing Someone to Die, Mercy Death, and Mercy Killing
Allowing someone to die Arguments for:
A rational person has the individual right to refuse treatment.
It shortens the period of suffering. A person has the right to die with dignity.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.20
Justification of Allowing Someone to Die, Mercy Death, and Mercy Killing (continued)
Allowing someone to die Arguments against:
It is tantamount to abandonment. A cure may be found. We must always choose life. It interferes with God’s divine plan.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.21
Justification of Allowing Someone to Die, Mercy Death, and Mercy Killing (continued)
Mercy death Arguments for:
A person has the right to decide when his or her life should end.
We are willing to end animals’ misery; we should do the same for higher-value humans.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.22
Justification of Allowing Someone to Die, Mercy Death, and Mercy Killing (continued)
Mercy death Arguments against:
People who are suffering cannot make rational decisions.
No one has the right to take an innocent life, even at that person’s request.
Mercy death will domino into mercy killing. The assistant’s burden of guilt is too great. A cure may be found.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.23
Justification of Allowing Someone to Die, Mercy Death, and Mercy Killing (continued)
Mercy killing Arguments for:
The person is not fully alive. The person is a financial and emotional
burden on the family and society. If the person could communicate, he or
she would wish to die.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.24
Justification of Allowing Someone to Die, Mercy Death, and Mercy Killing (continued)
Mercy killing Arguments against:
It is a direct violation of the Value of Life Principle.
Who is to judge the value or meaning of another’s life?
It sets a dangerous precedent for the elimination of “useless” people.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.25
Topic 3: Moral Implications of Abortion
Basic conflicting principles and positions
Stages in the development of the conceptus
Who should make abortion and non-abortion decisions
Week 3, PHIL2 3.26
Basic Conflicting Principles and Positions Against
Genetic view of the beginnings of human life
Sanctity or value of life argument Domino argument Danger of abortion to mother Relative safety of pregnancy Existence of viable alternatives to
abortion
Week 3, PHIL2 3.27
Basic Conflicting Principles and Positions (cont) Against:
Irrelevance of economic considerations Responsibility for sexual activity Rape and incest as no reason
For: Absolute rights of women over their own
bodies Birth as the beginning of human life Unwanted or deformed children
Week 3, PHIL2 3.28
Basic Conflicting Principles and Positions (cont)
For: Relative safety of abortion No domino effect Danger of pregnancy to mother Rape and incest as valid reason Abortion as a woman’s private
decision
Week 3, PHIL2 3.29
Stages in the Development of the Conceptus
Fertilized egg divides; by the sixth day it has implanted in the uterus.
3rd week: 2mm long and is developing parts; looks kind of like a worm.
4th week: 5mm long and has a beating heart; resembles a tadpole.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.30
Stages in the Development of the Conceptus (continued)
5th week: Gross divisions of the brain appear as well as eyes and limb buds.
6th week: 13mm long, eyes on side of head, reptilian-looking face has connected slits where mouth and nose will be.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.31
Stages in the Development of the Conceptus (continued)
7th week: tail almost gone, sexual characteristics can be seen, face is mammalian but piglike.
8th week: face resembles primate’s, some lower brain anatomy is well-developed, fetus shows some reflex response.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.32
Stages in the Development of the Conceptus (continued)
10th week: face unmistakably human appearing, males can be distinguished from females.
16th week: faces can be distinguished between fetuses
5th month: mother can feel movement
6th month: lungs begin to develop
Week 3, PHIL2 3.33
Stages in the Development of the Conceptus (continued)
Mid 7th month: recognizably human brain activity begins
30th week: brain waves with regular patterns typical of adult human brains appear – earlier than this, the fetus cannot think
Week 3, PHIL2 3.34
Who Should Make Abortion and Non-abortion Decisions?
Mother Father Doctor Family Religious authority Society
Week 3, PHIL2 3.35
Topic 4: Applying Humanitarian Ethics
Applying Humanitarian Ethics to the moral problems of taking human life
Evaluating differing positions and reasons/rationale
Week 3, PHIL2 3.36
Applying Humanitarian Ethics to the Moral Problems of Taking Human Life
Suicide – involves four of the basic principles (Value of Life, Goodness, Justice, and Freedom)As long as people are rational, they should have the final decision over whether their lives are valuable and good.
Week 3, PHIL2 3.37
Applying Humanitarian Ethics to the Moral Problems of Taking Human Life (continued)
Defense of the Innocent – aggressors violate the five basic principles and therefore forfeit their right to equal consideration
War – generally violates all five principles, yet limited war may be justified for the defense of innocent human beings
Week 3, PHIL2 3.38
Applying Humanitarian Ethics to the Moral Problems of Taking Human Life
Capital Punishment – clearly violates Value of Life, better alternatives are available for rehabilitation, life sentences or voluntary death
Allowing Someone to Die – allowing someone to die at the appropriate time is both medically and morally sound
Week 3, PHIL2 3.39
Applying Humanitarian Ethics to the Moral Problems of Taking Human Life (continued)
Mercy Death – a request from a competent person for a mercy death is an assisted suicide, which is moral
Mercy Killing – because it is a direct act to kill people without their consent, mercy killing is immoral
Week 3, PHIL2 3.40
Evaluating Differing Positions
and Reasons/Rationale
Consider the five basic principles. Are they violated and to what
degree? Is the decision made by a rational
person?
Week 3, PHIL2 3.41
Week 3
Thiroux, Jacques P.Ethics – Theory and Practice, 8th ed.Chapters 8-10
