You guys are probably tied of my adding things to this blog but its a great way to interact with fellow students. I found a very interesting article in CNN about Australian Professor David Goodall. He is 104 years old and wants to commit suicide. I have always been undecided on Euthanasia. For someone that's in a lot of pain and there is no hope whatsoever, then I think it should be allowed. Seen to many family and friends suffer from a lot of pain. I don't believe in it though if its just someone who is tired of living but then I read this. My grandfather died at 103 and the doctors said he died because he was tired of living. I remember he had to have care givers, couldn't see, couldn't hear well and just layed in bed all day except for his physical therapy. So here is a link to the article, what is your opinion? Please comment.
thanks guys
David Goodall's Euthanasia article
We wrestle with this issue in Bioethics.
ReplyDeleteI think centenarians who've had enough of life have earned the right to that decision, if there's genuinely no medical intervention to relieve the pain. I can't imagine wanting to persist in the shell of a worn-out body, at that age, just to satisfy others' ethical demands. But of course if the centenarian in question were a loved one of mine, I'd say everything I could do dissuade them. I'd ask him to read "Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It" by Jennifer Michael Hecht.*
In the end, though, nobody else knows what it's like to be oneself.
*https://www.amazon.com/Stay-History-Philosophies-Jennifer-Hardcover/dp/B00IGYPPGG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525357529&sr=1-2&keywords=stay+hecht