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Thought Experiment 53: Double Trouble

6/6/2016

2 Comments

 
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Guten tag! I'm finally back and caught up after a few weeks of camping in Germany and I'm excited to get back to these philosophy posts. I feel refreshed and energised now with a slightly different outlook on life, but towards the end of my packed trip, even my abundantly energetic pup began to look like he wanted us to put him out of his tired misery. We didn't do that, of course, because we knew he'd bounce back, but let's look at this week's thought experiment and give some consideration about when such an action might be appropriate.

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     "Doctor, you've got to help me. I'm in terrible pain and I know I'm dying. Put me out of my misery. Kill me swiftly and painlessly now. I can't go on any longer."
     "Let me get this straight," replied Dr. Hyde. "Are you suggesting that I should, say, give you a very high dose of painkillers—20mg of morphine sulphate perhaps—a dose so high that you would soon lose consciousness and shortly afterwards die?"
     "Yes! Please be merciful," said the patient.
     "I'm afraid that's something I cannot do," replied Dr. Hyde. "However, I can see that you are in pain, so here's something I can do. In order to relieve your pain, I would need to give you a very high dose of painkillers, say 20mg of morphine sulphate, a dose so high, however, that you would soon lose consciousness and shortly afterwards die. How does that sound?"
     "Just like your first suggestion," replied the puzzled patient.
     "Oh, but there's every difference in the world!" replied the doctor. "My first suggestion was that I killed you, the second that I relieved your pain. I'm no murderer and euthanasia is illegal in our country."
     "But either way I'm out of my misery," protested the patient.
     "Yes," said the doctor. "But only one way spares mine."


Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 157.

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So, this thought experiment gives us the question of intentions vs. outcomes, and it also asks us to come to grips with whether euthanasia can be moral or not. Why do we put our pets down, when they can't tell us what they want, but we refuse to do the same for people who can express their thoughts to us directly? As before, I'll be back on Friday after I've considered this for a few days, but what do you think? Do you have any specific examples or issues you'd like to see addressed? Let me know in the comments below or via facebook, twitter, or a private message. It's good to be back and I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
2 Comments
Lucy
6/6/2016 09:13:07 pm

Hi Ed and welcome back! An interesting thought about why we can put animals to sleep (a.k.a. killing them for reasons that we consider humane) and not humans (for reasons we consider in/humane). I`ve found some interesting arguments for and against euthanasia here http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Euthanasiaandassistedsuicide/Pages/Arguments.aspx
What actually came to my mind reading your post (potentially slightly off topic) was a comparison of artificial insemination versus euthanasia rather than euthanasia in animals vs. people. Why is it legal to bring someone to life without their consent and to make a decision on their behalf, but not let them die when they want to? Why is abortion allowed, e.g. to prevent a child born with severe mental or physical disabilities, but the same health and well-being reasons are not considered for euthanasia?
Also, what do you think is the value in euthanasia being legal or illegal, if people can still commit a suicide (if still conscious and able to)?

Reply
@EdGibney link
6/7/2016 08:50:09 am

Thanks for that NHS link, Lucy--that's really helpful! As for all your other questions...I don't know! : ) There seem to be a lot of inconsistencies in these debates, and I think I have a tough task ahead of me in trying to untangle them and form a logical position. You pose some really great questions though and I will try to address them.

Reply



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