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!
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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!
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