Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Physician assisted suicide, terminal illness, death with dignity, Kantian ethics, virtue ethics, autonomy, exploitation
Abstract
United States health care is intentionally moving in a direction which emphasizes patient autonomy. This mentality has caused some patients to seek control over their own death when faced with a terminal illness. Claiming the right to “death with dignity,” patients exercise the method of physician assisted suicide in order to avoid the inevitable suffering that comes along with certain disease progressions. Is such medical practice ethical? Should a patient have the choice to end her own life rather than experience the devastating pain that comes with a terminal illness? Could physician assisted suicide evolve to encompass putting to an end more than physical pain, such as psychological suffering, or physical or mental disabilities?
In this presentation, I will demonstrate how physician assisted suicide is a fateful pattern that should be resisted for several reasons. With an evaluation of Kantian ethics, I will suggest that health care professionals should not promote physician assisted suicide in clinical practice nor encourage terminally ill patients to choose this option when facing end of life circumstances. I will discuss how physician assisted suicide violates Kant’s first and second categorical imperatives and affirm why we should adhere to this assertion when considering ethical matters; to do so, I will explore the significance of virtue ethics and show how these principles are relevant when considering ethical dilemmas. In addition, I will present the concepts of autonomy and duty from a Kantian perspective and relate these to physician assisted suicide. Further, I will suggest potential implications of allowing “death with dignity” considering the slippery slope argument while using a case study to support the validity of this claim. Finally, I will emphasize how physician assisted suicide is likely to exploit vulnerable populations and make a final claim as to why this practice should be considered unethical.
Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Dr. Dennis Sullivan
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-1-2015 11:00 AM
End Date
4-1-2015 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Presentation References
Physician Assisted Suicide: Promoting Death with Dignity or Empowering Exploitation?
Cedarville, OH
United States health care is intentionally moving in a direction which emphasizes patient autonomy. This mentality has caused some patients to seek control over their own death when faced with a terminal illness. Claiming the right to “death with dignity,” patients exercise the method of physician assisted suicide in order to avoid the inevitable suffering that comes along with certain disease progressions. Is such medical practice ethical? Should a patient have the choice to end her own life rather than experience the devastating pain that comes with a terminal illness? Could physician assisted suicide evolve to encompass putting to an end more than physical pain, such as psychological suffering, or physical or mental disabilities?
In this presentation, I will demonstrate how physician assisted suicide is a fateful pattern that should be resisted for several reasons. With an evaluation of Kantian ethics, I will suggest that health care professionals should not promote physician assisted suicide in clinical practice nor encourage terminally ill patients to choose this option when facing end of life circumstances. I will discuss how physician assisted suicide violates Kant’s first and second categorical imperatives and affirm why we should adhere to this assertion when considering ethical matters; to do so, I will explore the significance of virtue ethics and show how these principles are relevant when considering ethical dilemmas. In addition, I will present the concepts of autonomy and duty from a Kantian perspective and relate these to physician assisted suicide. Further, I will suggest potential implications of allowing “death with dignity” considering the slippery slope argument while using a case study to support the validity of this claim. Finally, I will emphasize how physician assisted suicide is likely to exploit vulnerable populations and make a final claim as to why this practice should be considered unethical.
