Discuss the theological and philosophical views on euthanasia.
Euthanasia A. Euthanasia is the ending of life to end suffering. It comes from the Greek Thanatos meaning 'good death'. There are different types of euthanasia > Voluntary- when a person makes the decision themselves to die. > Compulsory- when a person doesn't make the decision themselves to die. > active- when something is given toe end someone's life e.g. a drug > Passive- when a person's treatment is taken away that is keeping them alive. They die from natural causes. There are different combinations > voluntary/active > compulsory/active > voluntary/passive > compulsory/passive The essay is getting you to think about theological and philosophical views on euthanasia. Many different religions possess different viewpoints. This is due to the fact that different religions interpret the Bible in different ways, for example the Roman Catholic church read the Bible and interpret it fundamentally and say 'that's a good reading, lets take it like that' but the Church of England would interpret it differently and say 'that's a good reading, what does it mean?'. The Bible has a great influence on all denominations of the Christian church. It influences Christians because it is their Holy Scripture, much like the Koran or the Jewish Scrolls. It influences the denominations differently however. If you take a Bible reference, e.g. 'Do not kill' (Deutronomy 5) then
Voluntary Euthanasia
Euthanasia is the word used to describe the practice of ending the life of a person who is suffering from an incurable disease or handicap (E.g. Cancer) using painless methods. The intention of this is to avoid prolonging a persons suffering and pain. It can also be referred to as 'mercy killing'. Euthanasia is illegal throughout the world. There are five different types of euthanasia, voluntary, involuntary, compulsory, passive and active. Voluntary Euthanasia This is when a patient decides to end their own life, they may be incapable or scared of attempting suicide so they enlist the help of a relative of friend. Involuntary Euthanasia This is when others, usually the courts, doctor or family member make the decision to end a patients life, as they are incapable of doing it themselves. E.g. if they are on a life support machine. Compulsory Euthanasia This is when Euthanasia has to be performed because a person has a certain illness or reached a certain age and is no longer considered to have a purpose or use in life. No country will allow compulsive euthanasia. Passive Euthanasia This is when no action is taken to prolong life, but no action is taken to end life. Doctors would give Painkillers to take the pain away but would not prolong the life of a person who is suffering. Active Euthanasia This is when no action is taken to prolong life, but there is a
Commentary – Speech on Euthanasia.
Rowena Bell Commentary - Speech on Euthanasia. With my speech, I am addressing an audience that consists of a mixed age, although generally no one under the age of 18, and mixed sex. The purpose of the speech is to promote the cause of euthanasia, to persuade people that the idea of euthanasia should not be discarded lightly as it could, at sometime, apply to either ourselves or someone we know and love. It is meant to be informative and to try and jolt people out their complacency to realise what euthanasia is all about. To try and achieve my aims I have employed persuasive techniques such as repetition; "pain" is repeated three times, as is "their life" while "life" is repeated a total of six times. Repetition is useful for emphasising a particular theme or idea; within this speech, with reference to the repeated words, it is the idea that people should not condemn others when it is their life and their pain. As well as repetition I have used lists of three words in the same semantic field, for example; "distressed, saddened and I grieve.", "conscious of pain, sympathetic of pain, allow someone to suffer". The reason for using lists of words in the same semantic fields is the same as the reason for using repetition, namely to emphasis an idea or theme. I have also tried to involve the audience, through the use of pronouns, to try to make relate or apply the idea of
How does the playwright Brian Clark present the conflict between Ken Harrison and his doctors whose life is it anyway? The play whose life is it anyway by Brian Clark
How does the playwright Brian Clark present the conflict between Ken Harrison and his doctors whose life is it anyway? The play whose life is it anyway by Brian Clark was made into a stage play and film. The television play was made in 1972 and the stage plays in 1978. In the play," written by Brian Clarke, the intense argument of committing Voluntary Euthanasia is discussed. The main point of the play, Ken Harrison, once an imaginative, devoted sculptor, is involved in a terrible car crash. Following a long operation, Ken is paralyzed from the neck down; he is informed that he may never be able to move his body ever again. Brian Clark in a similar way uses different characters to show a different view of Ken's possibilities. Dr. Emerson thinks Ken's life is precious and should be kept at any cost, no matter what Ken's wishes are. Dr. Scott also wants Ken to stay alive but values Ken's opinion and thoughts more than Dr. Emerson, she thinks sympathy a lot. Dr. Travers shows a view on Ken's problem, he sees it the same way as Dr. Emerson, and thinks of it as a mental patient wanting to commit suicide, and is happy to back up Dr. Emerson in a court of law, and also sees it as doing a favor for Dr. Emerson, no matter what he finds whilst talking to Ken.
Describe different responses to Euthanasia.
Austin Finnegan 4T Euthanasia Past Paper Question ) Describe different responses to Euthanasia. Euthanasia comes from the Greek word to 'die well'. In everyday speech, euthanasia is described as the act of killing a person who is suffering from a distressing mental or physical condition. Many people get the meaning of Euthanasia wrong and they think it includes stopping treatment, treating pain, or switching off respirators, this is not euthanasia. Euthanasia is where a doctor or friend intentionally ends a person's life to 'finish their suffering', this is euthanasia. There are two types of euthanasia, 'voluntary' and 'compulsory'. Voluntary euthanasia is where a person makes the decision to end his/her life, whereas compulsory euthanasia is where someone else (usually a doctor, or family member) makes that decision. There are many different responses to euthanasia. According to Christian belief, all human life is sacred as people were made as God's special creation and each individual person is known by God who plans their lives and decides how long they should live. The bible explains this in Psalm 139:16: "...your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." This is significant because many Christians believe that euthanasia is wrong as God created us and he should be the only one who
Should Euthanasia Be Illegal?
Should Euthanasia Be Illegal? By: Jasmine Saleh Euthanasia is defined as the act of killing for reasons of mercy. The government, physicians, and people across the United States and other countries have been debating the issue of legalizing euthanasia for years. Euthanasia should be banned and illegal in America and other nations. Euthanasia came to the public's attention in the western countries in 1870's. During 1920 in Germany, euthanasia began, and from 1921-1923, wounded German veterans were the first people to be put to death by euthanasia. After 1923, the practice was extended to other people who were handicapped and mentally retarded (Sloan, NP). In 1937, the Euthanasia Society of America was founded in New York City. When people refer to euthanasia, they may be discussing passive euthanasia, active euthanasia, or assisted suicide. Passive euthanasia occurs when medical treatment to prolong a terminally ill patient is discontinued and the patient is allowed to die. In active euthanasia, a physician or a family member takes a patient's life before he or she dies of a terminal illness or injury. Assisted suicide occurs when someone does a person's request for help in dying. Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly ending the lives of people who have incurable, painful, ore distressing diseases or handicaps (Bender, 12). People define euthanasia as "the act of
Discursive Essay:Euthanasia
Discursive Essay: Euthanasia The term 'Euthanasia' comes from the Greek word for 'easy death'. It is the one of the most public policy issues being debated about today. Formally called 'mercy killing', euthanasia is the act of purposely making or helping someone die, instead of allowing nature to take it's course. Basically euthanasia means killing in the name of compassion. Euthanasia, can be, 'passive' or 'active'. Positive involves taking deliberate action to cause a death. Active involves giving a lethal dose of toxicant to cause death. Euthanasia, at the moment is illegal throughout the world apart from in the State of Oregon in USA, where there is a law specifically allowing doctors to prescribe lethal drugs for the purpose of euthanasia. In the Netherlands it is practiced widely, although, in fact, it remains illegal. Many people would say a person would want to "die with dignity", but some people may spend the last moments of their life, in a way which to them, is undignified. Having the right to control over their own life and death helps people keep human dignity in the face of their suffering. Another popular argument is that people should not be left lingering in pain. They should not have to suffer when death is inevitable. People do have the right to commit suicide, although most of the time it is a tragic
Does the play use every device to persuade us that Ken is right in 'Whose life is it anyway'.
After reading the play I thought that Ken made the right decision. Therefore, in my view I think that the play does use every device to persuade us that Ken is right. Below there are some of the devices that persuade us Ken is right: - The first device is the title of the play, 'Whose life is it anyway'. For example when Ken doesn't want the injection, Dr. Emerson does not care that Ken doesn't want it, but does it because he thinks he knows best when it is actually Ken's life. Dr. Emerson does not want Ken to commit suicide and fights to try and keep Ken alive until the very end of the play. So, this means that Dr. Emerson is controlling Ken's life when it is actually Ken's choice. Another Device is Juxtaposition. This is putting two things together so they appear in contrast. For example, on an advert for a slimming meal, to show you what would happen if you started eating it they will split the screen in to two and have a picture of someone fat in the before part and someone thin is in the after screen. An example of this from the play is in the scene when Ken feels hopeless about his ruptured spinal column and the nurses try to comfort him. In the following scene, the nurses are saying he will never get better. This makes Ken look courageous about knowing he will die and makes you think that the nurses are not telling the truth. Another device is showing you that
Euthanasia - Diary Entries.
EUTHANASIA: DIARY ENTRIES Week 1 Day 1 Dear Diary, It's been a few weeks now, five weeks I would imagine. I suppose I'm just one of those unlucky people that get this disease. I think it is called motor neurone disease but I can't quite remember along with many other things. Sometimes I worry what is ahead of me. I have been in this same room for quite a while and it does seem quite boring and miserable and the bed seems to be the place I will live the rest of my life. Looking out of the window I could see sun shining brightly over the basketball courts and the playing fields. Lately I been finding it very difficult to use my legs so I've decided to retire to a wheelchair permanently for my own safety as I can barely walk at least a metre. Luckily enough I can still use my arms and neck. Sometimes I think I am going mad. Is it all a dream? Although I wish it were, sadly it is not. Week 1 Day 2 Dear Diary, Today I went to the hospital library, one of the few places I can still go. I read some books on athletics whilst in the library. I found the books quite entertaining as I scanned the pictures remembering the time when I was one of those people, taking in the glory of winning sporting events and taking part. Looking around the library I could see other people present. You could see some people using reading machines and others being assisted by
Eastenders dealt with the issue of euthanasia in a past show where Dot is the permanent carer for Ethel who has lung cancer.
Soaps have two main roles, which are to entertain and to inform people of issues that arise in everyday modern life but religious issues are often avoided as they are very sensitive and can be taken offensively. This is a problem because it means that important areas of social life, religion and culture are not covered but are replaced by sometimes inappropriate subjects. Soaps are a 'moral universe' because they provide us with help lines e.g. after most soaps, they offer a helpline to people who have queries or are suffering from the same problem dealt with in the soap. There is one main problem with soaps however, which is that they have a tendency to normalise rare events (such as gay weddings, teenage pregnancies etc.), which can promote a cynical view of reality. If they didn't have a 'heightened reality' though, they would be boring and there would definitely not be 6 million children tuning into soaps. Children also prefer watching soaps to sitting there and reading a teen magazine, which is a good thing in a way because soaps handle issues more responsibly and with more precautions. Eastenders dealt with the issue of euthanasia in a past show where Dot is the permanent carer for Ethel who has lung cancer. The nurses and doctors offer to put Ethel in a care home as she has only a few days to live and Ethel refuses and says she wants Dot to care for her. Dot reassures