Preview

Barry Corbet Utilitarianism

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
117 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Barry Corbet Utilitarianism
Barry Corbet, former editor of New Mobility magazine, suffered a spinal cord injury in a 1968 helicopter crash, leaving him disabled. He was also an author and filmmaker before his death in 2004. He says in the following viewpoint that although he sympathizes with the disabled who ask for help in dying, he opposes the legalizing of the physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Corbet sees too many problems with making PAS legal. For example, he questions the wisdom of granting doctors the power to decide who should be eligible for assisted dying. He also believes that the list of groups and individuals eligible for physician-assisted suicide would inevitably grow, as the criteria that distinguish them would seem increasingly arbitrary.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1. The essay claims that human nature is not sufficiently selfish to make it possible that many people will sacrifice so much for a stranger. The facts of human nature which was clearly described by the author using two stories about Dora and Bob. Singer effectively argued the ethical distinction of right and wrong between the acts of Dora who sold a child to organ peddler but later realized and corrected her action, with the action of Bob, who chose to save a valuable old car than the life of a child.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    ENG 111 Final Paper

    • 3005 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In today 's society one of the most controversial issues is physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill. Many feel as though it is wrong, regardless of their health condition to ask their health care provider to end their life. Others feel it is their right to be able to choose how and when they die. For those who believe physician-assisted suicide should be their choice, they feel it should be legal because: they don 't want to go through the suffering caused by the life-threatening illness, they fear the loss of their independence, becoming a burden to their family and friends, and the fear of dying alone.…

    • 3005 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Always Wrong” begins with the heartbreaking story of American, Brittany Maynard, who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, glioblastoma.…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism, as Greene suggests, is a splendid idea for metamorality. Greene summarized utilitarianism in three words: Maximize happiness impartially. These three words also identify the three key concepts that Greene considers for utilitarianism. “Maximize”, compared to maximizing the value of a mathematical function, implies that there are constraints, scarcity, limitations, and trade-offs. . . All things considered, the largest happiness we can get out of an aggregate community.…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In order to analyse the ethical decisions made, it is important to assess the patient holistically. It is important to assess the impact that the symptoms may have on the patient’s quality of life. For instance, would amputating her leg immobilise her? Physically, if the patient is to remain not amputated would that increase the risk of infection or would the ulcers worsen? The risk factors should also be assessed, for instance, would amputating impact her social well being by immobilising her. If this were to be the case it would have a direct impact on her emotional and economical wellbeing, because with her unable to mobilize she may have to spend money…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “I’m going to die Monday at 6:15pm.” These were the words of Marc Weide’s mother when she chose euthanasia after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. In an astonishingly direct portrayal of his mother’s last days leading up to her appointment, Weide quotes his mother regarding the option of chemo-therapy, “I’m not going bald - I don’t want people saying, ‘How sad, that beautiful hair is all gone.’ Never” (Theguardian.com). The option for one to choose their own end to this life is controversial. There are many people who support physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, but there are also many people who oppose the concept and say that it is a “slippery slope” to handling other vulnerable communities (namely, the disabled). Personally, I feel like it is a terminally ill person’s right to decide how their life ends; especially if they have 6 or less months to live. The autonomy of a terminally ill patient choosing when, where, with whom, and how to end their own life is why physician-assisted suicide should be made legal on a federal level in the United States.…

    • 1270 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aaron Feuerstein became something of an overnight national hero by protecting his workers. Feuerstein said, “It was the right thing to do and there’s a moral imperative to do it, irrespective of the consequences.”…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Peter Singer asserts that utilitarianism implies a moral obligation to be a vegetarian. Utilitarianism holds that the right actions, or what we ought to do, are those actions that are expected to produce the best overall consequences, provide maximum utility, happiness or pleasure and minimize pain and suffering. Utilitarians look at the probable consequences of choices and choose their actions based on whatever they believe will produce the most utility or pleasure. Singer claims that if one is a utilitarian, then one ought to be a vegetarian. He agrees with the principle of equality of interests, which states that states all interests ought to be given equal consideration.…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Utilitarianism theory supports individual capability to foresee the costs of an act. A Utilitarian considers the decision of giving the best profit to a large number of people; this is known to be ethically correct.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism is a teleological theory which looks at the consequences of an act to decide whether it is right or wrong. There are lots of strengths to utilitarianism and not many weaknesses. One of the strengths is that it is a theory which established whether something was good or bad according to the majority of people. Bentham came up with this theory and it is known as the principle of utility. Bentham said ‘Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them to point out what we shall do’. This is the foundation for the principle of utility and it is a strength to utilitarianism as pleasure and pain can determine how people act. Bentham also said the aim of utilitarianism is ‘the greatest good of the greatest number’ and he used the Hedonic Calculus that he created to measure how good an act is and how many people it will affect, this is a major strength of utilitarianism because it tries to please everyone and each individual is equal. A weakness of Bentham’s view was noticed by Mill, Mill said it failed to differentiate humans from animals as animals can share the same pleasures that humans have, so this make human beings equal to animals. Mill also said that Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus was a weakness as it was too impractical as to use it you have to think of the; purity, intensity, certainty, extent, duration and fecundity of an act. In some situations this would be pointless as there might not be time to complete the Hedonic Calculus. For example is your house was on fire and you only had time to save either you cat or your dog you would not be able to think through the Hedonic Calculus as by the time you have your house would be burnt to the ground. This is a weakness to Bentham’s theory but not to utilitarianism because you can still please the majority without looking at the Hedonic Calculus every time you want to complete an act.Bernard…

    • 517 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Dr. Ann Marie Chiasson believes that Physician Assisted Suicide is inhumane, because it goes against the Hippocratic oath. David Orentlicher created a documentary covering the dark side of Physician Assisted Suicide, and it also showed the lack of responsibility some doctors have over their patients. Finally, Ben Mattlin a terminally ill patient himself claimed that any barriers eliminated would make life scary for him, because they could have easily terminated his life, because of his condition. Physician-Assisted Suicide needs to be criminalized, because it blurs the lines between the doctor and patient relationship, not all patients are mentally competent to make their own decisions, and it violates the Hippocratic oath. The American Medical Association’s morals are where they need to be, but the government needs to remove the state’s right to decide if Physician Assisted Suicide should be allowed. The government needs to outlaw it once and for all. Physician Assisted Suicide is not right, or will it ever…

    • 1441 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    • 1899 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The argument over physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and the right-to-die movement has plagued American society, for decades. A large amount of people are concerned that legalizing doctor assisted suicide is irrational and violates the life-saving tradition of medicine. Nevertheless, the main issue surrounding the issue of assisted suicide is who has the right to choose when someone dies? There are countless of questions in different levels, and views surrounding this right. Physician-assisted suicide should be a legalized medical practice for terminally ill patient who needs to be relieved from suffering so that they may have a peaceful death.…

    • 1899 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    • 3170 Words
    • 13 Pages

    According to Birnbacher (2008), the question of legalizing physician assisted suicide still generates great debate. These two scholars have added their voice to the debate by stressing that physician assisted suicide should be permissible medical caregivers. This should only be possible under certain and considerable conditions. Manning (1998) also argued that some diseases are quite traumatizing. The patients tend to face extreme suffering that even doctors can seldom extend their olive branch. For instance, when an individual is suffering from incurable syndromes that press them to the extreme throughout their life, then euthanasia should be allowed (Snyder, 2002).…

    • 3170 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Utilitarianism treats human and nonhuman animal as same species, Sharfer-Landau (2015) explained, “utilitarians argue that animals are member of the moral community.” A qualification to be the moral community is to be able to suffer. Although nonhuman animal cannot talk like human nor express their feeling freely like human, yet they do suffer like human. Therefore, utilitarians consider human and nonhuman animal both as the moral community.…

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It is wrong to drive one’s vehicle on the left side of a road in a country where people normally drive on the right. Consequentialist theory works better to argue the above statement.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays