euthanasia

Benedict Ashley and Kevin O'Rourke, in Health Care Ethics: A Theological Analysis, write that the basic argument against euthanasia from the point of view of the Catholic church is ethical:

Suicide is the choice to destroy one's own life, and "assisted" suicide is formal cooperation with the suicide of another. It should be obvious from [previous] discussion of the principle of legitimate cooperation that it cannot be ethical for a health care professional to cooperate formally with suicide if suicide itself is unethical. A fortiori if assisting suicide is immoral, killing a person without their consent, even with the intention of relieving their suffering, cannot be ethical (Ashley and O'Rourke 411-412).

The problem, then, is determining whether euthanasia is indeed unethical. Once that is established, then the position against euthanasia from the Catholic perspective is supported on the grounds of its unethical nature.

The word "euthanasia" itself is a combination of Greek words which mean "good death" or "happy death." Obviously, the connotation is not neutral, but is meant to convey the impression that such a death is desirable, good for the suffe

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be permitted. The Judeo-Christian perspective does not reduce the world to the consideration of one person who is suffering, but instead sees the world as one in which universal laws of morality hold for every person. This position is also reflected in the world of philosophy. For example, applying the ideas of Thomas Hobbes to euthanasia, 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 and the first step in the decline of the state. No human purpose can be fulfilled without civic order, which would be lost if individuals decided for themselves such issues as euthanasia. With respect to teleology, Joseph Butler sees a contradiction between "inclination" and an individual's real nature. The desire of the moment can betray the purpose of that nature: "Man may act according to the principle or inclination which for the present happens to be stronger, and yet act in a way disproportionate to, and violate his real proper nature" (Denise 155). In other words, with respect to euthanasia, the individual can practice vice while believing he practices virtue. It could
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Approximate Word count = 3013
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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