Do You Think That the Right to Life Entails a Right to Die...

I am going to answer these two questions in this essay. They are â€Å"Do you think that the right to life entails a right to die under certain circumstances?† and â€Å"Should the laws be changed to grant a universal right to voluntary euthanasia?†. In this essay, I am going to give reasons using ethical theories to justify these questions. Euthanasia Euthanasia is the act of a physician or other third party ending a patients life in response to severe pain and suffering. Euthanasia can be classified into three types. They are voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia. Involuntary euthanasia is the action that takes the patient’s life without any informed consent of the patient but the patient may want to live.†¦show more content†¦It is a voluntary euthanasia. Utilitarianism tells us that whether an action is right or wrong depends on its consequences and the right thing to do is to promote the happiness of most people. If he has the right to die, it can eliminate the suffering of the person, decrease psychological burden of his family and decrease financial burden of his family and also the society. However, it will increase the suffering of his family. In this case, the amount of the happiness is more than the amount of the unhappiness. Therefore, this action is right in Act Util itarianism of Utilitarianism theory. However, in rule Utilitarianism, this action is wrong because of breaking the Hong Kong’s law. Kantian Ethics tells us the right action is to act from duty. We have moral duties to not kill and not allow to die wherever possible. Moreover, Kantian Ethics is concerned with the act itself but not the consequences. Kant’s theory said people should never be merely means to an end-in-itself. We should never kill someone in order to reduce suffering, or save money. Therefore, non-voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia are not allowed in this theory. Using the above example, when we has persistent vegetative state that want to die because we have no will in our live, we also want someone intend that others follow our will. So, vetoing a person’s will cannot from a universal law because there is a contradiction.Show MoreRelatedDo You Think That the Right to Life Entails a Right to Die Under Certain Circumstances? Should the Law Be Changed to Grant a Universal Right to Voluntary Euthanasia?1008 Words   |  5 PagesThey are â€Å"Do you think that the right to life entails a right to die under certain circumstances?† and â€Å"Should the laws be changed to grant a universal right to voluntary euthanasia?†. In this essay, I am going to give reasons using ethical theories to justify these questions. Euthanasia Euthanasia is the act of a physician or other third party ending a patients life in response to severe pain and suffering. Euthanasia can be classified into three types. They are voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary