Anda di halaman 1dari 6

Running head: AID: THEORIST'S PERSPECTIVE

The Dispute on Aid-In-Dying


Arnulfo Velasquez
California State University, Stanislaus 10/10/2013

The Dispute on Aid-In-Dying

AID: THEORIST'S PERSPECTIVE

Someone is in tremendous pain and has no cure or chance of recovery. Would helping
them die be the best solution? In the United States the topic of aid-in-dying (AID) has been a
polarizing one for the last two decades. Specifically there is a big controversy on what the role of
a nurse should be in the process of AID or if they should even play a role at all. "Case TwentyThree: A Fevered Hand on a Cooling Brow- The Nurse's Role in Aid-In-Dying" was written by
Peggy Connolly, David R. Keller, Martin G. Leever, Becky Cox White. There has been a fair
share of people who have expressed their opinions on this polarizing topic. Bentham's utilitarian
position in this article was the most effective one of all, for the reason that the greater good for
the most amount of people is always the right thing to do.
In the case study the author's made points for both legalizing AID and not keeping it
illegal. Although there were points made on both sides it was clear that they were more on the
side of legalizing AID. For example when they gave the American Nurse's Association's (ANA)
four moral objections to assisted suicide they also spent a great deal of time refuting each one.
The authors also gave a lot of statistics that were in favor of legalizing AID. (Connolly, Keller,
Leever, White, 2009, p.314)
In this case study the author's make it very clear by showing statistics that most of the
general public as well as the healthcare professionals are in favor of AID. (Connolly et al, 2009,
p.315) Since the majority of the population wants AID if they ever were terminally, the
government should grant them their wish. This will bring happiness to more people than it would
upset which would be one that utilitarian theorist Jeremy Bentham would most definitely agree
with. Bentham in many ways has the same views as the author of the case study. Bentham
believed that a community was nothing more than the people who were in it. If most of those
individuals received pleasure from something, the right thing to do is to give the majority of the
community the pleasure they desire. The authors depict that surveys typically show that more

AID: THEORIST'S PERSPECTIVE

people are more afraid suffer than to die; this is another example of why a utilitarian would be in
favor of legalizing AID. Another theory Bentham had was that diminishing a person's pain would
bring pleasure, which in a utilitarian perspective is the right thing to do. This correlates with an
author's reason for why he believes AID should be legalized. The author mentions that death is
not the worst thing that could happen to a person. (Connolly et al, 2009, p.314) He believes that
having excruciating pain with no chance of physical or psychological relief is worse and that
performing AID would be the right action for these circumstances. These are some examples of
how Bentham would agree with the author of this case study, but there certainly are a fair share
of theorist that would not look at AID the same way. (Bentham, p. 56)
Immanuel Kant would most definitely have a different view on why AID should be
legalized and whether or not nurses have a role in the process. The authors of the case study
mention that nurses are usually more prone to being in favor of AID and that some actually took
it upon themselves to assist the patient in dying. (Connolly et al, 2009, p.317) The reasons given
for this was that nurses spend an immense amount of time with the suffering patient and their
likewise suffering family. The nurses are observing how the patient is handling the illness and
make their decision based on those observations (Connolly et al, 2009, p.317). Kant would
disagree with this completely. He would want the nurse to make the decision based on facts and
be consistent; not make decisions only in certain situations because they observed pain and
suffering. Kant also states that when a person is doing something with good will, they are doing
the right thing, but he does not just stop there he believes that having a notion of good will is a
duty. He would agree with a nurse or doctor doing the AID procedure as long as they believed
this was truly the best option for the patient and were not just doing it for a malicious reason like
being tired of taking care of the patient. Although Kant's theories sound effective in many
aspects, it simply cannot work in this situation. (Kant, p. 61-62)

AID: THEORIST'S PERSPECTIVE

Of the both positions mentioned, Bentham's theory is more effective than Kant's view
point for this particular situation. Bentham's idea that the most good for the majority of people
would be the right way of approaching the process of AID. When dealing with a person's life
giving them what brings them most pleasure is the best decision. For example there is a patient
suffering the worst pain they have ever felt. There is a nurse caring for this patient and for weeks
the patient keeps begging the nurse to put him out of his misery and let him die. The nurse feels
sympathy for the patient and feels that granting them their wish would be the right thing to do.
Now if the nurse grants the patient's wishes they would both be receiving pleasure. The nurse by
knowing she did the right thing and the patient would not be suffering any longer. (Bentham, p.
56) Now Kant's view point of using good will to decide whether it is the right thing to do would
not be effective dealing with someone's life. For example a nurse taking care of the patient and
she is continuously seeing the suffering he is going through. Knowing there is no chance of
recovery, the nurse feels that taking the patient's life would genuinely be the best option for the
patient. Even though the nurse would feel like she is doing the right thing; this would be a
horrible outcome if the patient is not completely on the same page. Kant has another view point
of not being able to use observations of a situation to decide what is the right thing to do. This
would also not be effective in the process of AID. Every situation of a patient is different, and a
nurse should be able to observe what is happening with the patient to make the right decision.
(Kant, p. 61-62) Bentham's perspective is clearly superior to that of Kant's.
AID will forever be a controversial topic in society as abortion has become in the last
couple of decades. There are always going to be theorists and philosopher that are going to have
their perspectives on whether or not this should be legal or not. To this day the most effective
perspective on whether the process of AID should be legalized is the utilitarian approach that

AID: THEORIST'S PERSPECTIVE

Jeremy Bentham formulated. It is yet to be seen if AID becomes legalized in more nations. Is
AID the answer for the terminally ill?

Reference
Connolly, P., Keller, D., Leever, M., & White, B. (2009). Case Twenty-Three: A Fevered Hand
on a Cooling Brow-The Nurses Role in Aid-in-Dying. Ethics in action: a case-based
approach. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

AID: THEORIST'S PERSPECTIVE


Jeremy Bentham. "Normative Theories of Ethics." Course reading pack
Immanuel Kant. "Normative Theories of Ethics." Course reading pack

Anda mungkin juga menyukai