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1 Phil-103 Tim Cadillac April 12, 2020 Utilitarianism for euthanasia

Living in the world many life changing experiences may occur that is a matter of life or death. Many of these decisions have to be made regardless of religion or choice of ethics which can make it hard. There are many controversial arguments about euthanasia and whether it is or is not the right thing to do. Euthanasia is good death, meaning a voluntarily ending of life with drugs and prescriptions to stop any pain and suffering that a person may experience while alive. Many people believe that there are two different forms of euthanasia which are pulling the plug and taking medicine to end their life. Euthanasia is considered to be physician assisted suicide. According to Sharp, “One factor that several researchers have found influences attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is religion” (Sharp, 2017, pg. 1021). The act of taking a life is never easy for a physician or the person in pain but including religion in the situation adds a challenge to this process.

Utilitarianism is a qualitative addition to John Steward Mill’s altruistic hedonism by Jeremy Bentham. The utilitarians were a group that heavily influenced by Great Britains in the nineteenth century. Utilitarianism is a subcategory of teleology and deontology in general Christian, consequentialist of moral arguments. Utilitarianism says it is recommended to always do what’s the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in comparison to other decisions that can be made. In order to define utilitarianism, the definition of “good” must be obtained to judge whether things are good or bad. Jeremy Bentham defined good in terms of

2 social welfare. Rightness and wrongness have identical standards to pleasure and pain. He says, justice has no meaning by itself of the concept of utility. Utilitarians believe that all people are given the right to equality and fair treatment expect when another social practice is admitted. Overall, for utilitarianism, there are two types that are called act and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism judges each act individually and determines the consequences based off of the one act. Rule utilitarianism focuses on all acts in general and determines the consequence based on past. An example for a better understanding of utilitarianism is if a person seeks more pain than pleasure from cheating than it is bad, but it more pleasure is experienced than it is good. In order to increase levels of happiness, a person’s level of pain must be underneath it (Stewart, Blocker, & Petrik, 2013). This concept relates to the moral ethical system called euthanasia as well.

Euthanasia is a practice that is illegal in all countries unless it is voluntary. Voluntary euthanasia is considered accept when the action that is done causes happiness for the individual as well society. According to the utilitarianism theory, all acts are supposed to be done with the intentions to do good for a great amount of people. The patient who has been suffering from a deadly illness is now content to know that they are free from the pain as long as the family who has to watch their loved one experience will receive happiness. The consequence seeks utility and therefore happiness by putting an end to the pain from the patient, their family, and society as well. The benefits of active voluntary euthanasia concerning the terminally ill allows for money to be put to other living people in the family. This cure for an life ending illness causes the greatness happiness because patients can no longer has to battle their whole life unhaopy with the disease. When a patient decides to do this, they are freeing up space in the hospital for people who want to and are also able to survive the problems that they are facing (Jamesa, 2016).

3 For utilitarians, they believe that their life is in their hands and they should have full control over it. Although this may be true, Christian have an opposed view to this. Christians believe that euthanasia is a serious violation and is considered self-murder. Killing yourself violates God’s plan for you. Christians believe that God has full control over your life and practicing euthanasia is against what he has in store for the people that he created. Christians are created in the image of God and taking away life is not something that God intended for his people. Christians believe that although a person may experience pain for a long amount of time, they need to have patience and faith in God to uplift them in their tough situations. God does everything for a reason and interfering with his plan is unacceptable in the spiritual eyes. Christians must ground their arguments in revelation while defending the revelation and give strong reasoning as to why living they live with God. Life is a present from God and should be taken seriously due to the values it possesses. When a Christian wants to take their life, they are implying that the life they are given is not worth living, therefore God’s work was worthless. For Christians, arguments that ask about the quality of life are completely unnecessary. As a Christian one’s life should be greatly valued that they understand the importance and will not ask for euthanasia for themselves or any of their loved ones. Doing so, it tells God that they see themselves as worthless. Although this might be true, utilitarians do not agree with what they believe. Utilitarians focus on the happiness that their actions possess to themselves and everyone around them. They believe that it is their life and they have the right to control whether they want to live unhappy or not. Euthanasia is a practice that is sometimes decided in life. Based on the many moral ethical systems, many people decide to take different paths. Utilitarianism is one of the many that emphasis the importance of happiness to oneself and others.

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References Cherry, M. J. (2018). Physician-Assisted Suicide and Voluntary Euthanasia: How Not to Die as a Christian. Christian Bioethics, 24(1), 1–16. https://doiorg.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/cb/cbx021 Sharp, S. (2018). Beliefs in and about God and attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. Journal of religion and health, 57(3), 1020–1037. https://doiorg.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0510-1 Stewart, D., Blocker, H. G., & Petrik, J. (2013). Fundamentals of philosophy (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN-13: 9780205242993 Utilitarianism View on Euthanasia. (2016, October 6). Retrieved from https://sites.dwrl.utexas.edu/liberrimus/2016/10/04/utilitarianism-view-on-euthanasia/...