A Typological Sketch of Various Arguments Against Physician-Assisted Suicide

Bioethics, Morality and Ethics January 30, 2023 Leave a comment

Physician-Assisted Suicide/Physician-Assisted Death/Voluntary Euthanasia
(*henceforth PAS/PAD/VE)

In what follows, I will present a brief typology of some of the various arguments that are commonly raised against PAS/PAD/VE. This typological sketch will proceed in broad strokes. The general categories that I used to group these various arguments are: methodological arguments, consequentialist arguments, legal arguments, epistemological arguments, and moral arguments.

To the Five Burroughs (Methodological, Consequentialist, Legal, Epistemological, and Moral)

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One Perspective on Christianity and Disability

Philosophy of Religion December 31, 2022 Leave a comment

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Introduction
In what follows, I will lay out some of the more problematic aspects of Christianity’s relationship with its members who are disabled. This will involve an exploration of Christian theology and a comparison with another, similarly harmful, approach to/worldview of disability known as the medical model.
NOTE: I realize that what is about to be said does not apply universally to all of Christianity or its denominations or its beliefs. But there are still people and denominations who hold to some of these beliefs or views, either directly or indirectly, and who propagate this mistreatment of people with disabilities, either purposefully or inadvertently. It it to these particular Christian individuals and groups that this article is predominantly addressed.

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Criticisms of the Use of the Evolving Standard of Decency (ESD) Doctrine in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008)

Legal Philosophy, Metaethics, Social and Political Philosophy December 26, 2022 Leave a comment

The most commonly raised criticism against the national consensus test of the ESD doctrine is that it constitutes an ongoing saga of judicial activism. Judicial activism occurs when a judge/justice upholds his or her own political, legal, religious, economic, or other beliefs contra society, thereby substituting the objectivity of existing laws for the subjectivity of personal preferences. Some may not feel that judicial activism is all that subversive. But judicial activism not only forces the judge/justice’s will on the people, but also it can greatly limit the legislative branch’s ability to function. The blurring of judicial and legislative lines can result in political stalemate, voter apathy, and a general distrust of government. Kimberly Bliss comments that under a democratic system “legislatures, not courts, are constituted to respond to the will and consequently the moral values of the people” since the former has more contact with the people and has, in theory, been elected by the voters (1334).

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Conscientious Objection: Some Thoughts

Bioethics, Legal Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy December 19, 2022 Leave a comment

What I think I find most problematic about Conscientious Objection, or at least what lays the groundwork of my distaste for it, is its unique context. To put it more straightforwardly, Conscientious Objection can, but does not always, involve genuine cases of life and death.

Rather than considering one-off examples, let’s try a cluster approach.

i. A woman is in dire medical need of an abortion; if she does not receive an abortion, she will inevitably die during childbirth. If she lives, the fetus will die and vice versa.

ii. A woman is in significant medical need of an abortion; if she does not receive an abortion, she will inevitably suffer permanent physiological damage. If the fetus lives, she will live but in immense pain for the rest of her life. If she lives (i.e. has an abortion), the fetus will die.

iii. A woman is not in any medical need of an abortion; she elects to abort the fetus within the federally and state regulated timelines allowed to do so.

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