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Philosphical Views on the Issue of Euthanasia

This study will consider and analyze the likely views of Thomas Hobbes, Joseph Butler, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill on the issue of euthanasia. The study will analyze the views of these four men from the teleological and deontological points of view. That is, their views on euthanasia will be considered in terms of both the purpose of humanity on earth (the teleological) and the ethical or duty-oriented issues related to human life (the deontological).

Hobbes is a difficult philosopher to analyze with respect to euthanasia. His morality is based on the laws of the state and the sovereign power of the rule of the state. If the sovereign sees euthanasia as legal and desirable, it is so, in Hobbes' philosophy. If the sovereign sees euthanasia as undesirable, it shall be so. Hobbes makes it clear that individual morality is dangerous because it is not based on reason or on the desire for social order:

But whatsoever is the object of any man's appetite or desire, that is it which he for his part calleth good: and the object of his hate and aversion, evil; and of his contempt, vile and inconsiderable (Denise 130).

If every individual in the state were to determine for himself or herself whether euthanasia was the desired way of death for himself or herself or a loved one, for medical or other reasons, this would mean civil chaos to Hobbes and the first step in the decline of the state.

For Hobbes, ethical, dutiful and purpose-based considerations all comes down to the matter of keeping order in the state. Keeping order in the state comes down to obedience to the sovereign. No human purpose can be fulfilled without civic order, which would be lost if individuals decided for themselves such issues as euthanasia. Human beings need "a common power to keep them all in awe" (Denise 132). That common power, the sovereign, in Hobbes philosophy would be the final arbiter of whether euthanasia were moral or legal or desirable, ...

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Philosphical Views on the Issue of Euthanasia. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:04, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682553.html