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University of Nairobi *
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HUMAN RESO
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Philosophy
Date
Nov 24, 2024
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docx
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2
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“Active and Passive Euthanasia” by James Rachels
Active euthanasia is where the act of killing a patient is performed to accelerate the
process of dying while passive euthanasia is where the patient is left to die by withholding
medication or life support equipment. James Rachels argues that mercy killing should be
regarded as an analogous to practical as the consequence cases. I agree with him that active
euthanasia is better than passive euthanasia. There exists a moral disparity between killing a
patient and allowing the patient to die. It is important to carry out proper medical analysis to
determine whether the condition the victim is suffering from may cause more harm than comfort
if the patient keeps living. Doctors normally take an oath to save patients and sometimes they
find themselves in a quagmire situation of taking one’s life. There exists a difference between
killings and authorizing die, for example, if the doctor injects some drugs to help the patient to
die comfortably then it is acceptable unlike withholding treatment for the patient to suffer in their
dying. Euthanasia avoids ethical guidelines because it involves taking one’s life and the patient
has to be sure of what they want before their decision is supported by others. I agree with Rachels that killing is not in any way different from permitting die, because
both types of euthanasia involve taking one’s life. Active euthanasia is as bad as passive and I
will not support any kind of euthanasia. If euthanasia is allowed in our societies then we are
likely to experience more deaths because some may take advantage of it. The main difference
Surname 2
between the two is that in active euthanasia the doctor is not held accountable for the act because
it involves use of approved drugs. The patient dies comfortably without any more suffering and
if they were ailing from critical disease then euthanasia is a good thing. Passive euthanasia on the
other hand questions the doctor’s code of ethics by withholding treatment or switching off life
support equipment. This kind of act is not easy but some physicians may do it if the patient does
not afford treatment and sometimes they avoid being held accountable. The purpose for
euthanasia need to be well explained and then the required procedure b followed before
performing the act. Active euthanasia is the best among the two because it allows the patient to
dies painlessly unlike passive where the patients suffers and eventually dies. However, some
think that passive euthanasia is the moral act because the patient dies naturally without any
injection or drugs. Therefore, it depends on what one wants and what we believe to be right as
per our moral standards because both of them involve killing.
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