Why do some ordinary men and women commit horrible atrocities, while others resist, even if it costs their lives? Studies of the Holocaust offer a potent critique of our customary approaches to moral education.
128 search results for: euthanasia
Germain Grisez, Christian Philosopher
The whole of Grisez’s account of this sense of Christian philosophy repays study, not least as an exploration of the shape that philosophic wonder first takes in a Catholic educated by a warmly believing household; and then of the place of audacious questioning in a Christian faith firmly held for love of God and in hope for God’s Kingdom.
Physicians Cannot Serve Both Death and Life
A physician cannot truly and wholeheartedly work toward bringing his patient to health if he can choose at any time to give up that pursuit and suggest rather that the patient choose death instead.
Six Things You Need to Know about Physician-Assisted Suicide
Is the real healthcare crisis not enough physician assisted suicide laws? Or is it the staggering and increasing number of people losing their battles with mental illness and committing suicide?
The Inalienable Right to Life: An Update on Assisted Suicide in the United States and Canada
We must act now to prevent assisted suicide from gaining a stronger foothold in the United States.
A Proposal for the Healthcare Professions: It’s Time To Refuse to Deal in Death
The healthcare professions are rightly devoted to the restoration and maintenance of health. Deliberately delivering death is in direct opposition to these goals. For the sake of their profession and those whom they serve, healthcare professionals should refuse to participate in acts that are so utterly incompatible with their profession.
New York Courts Rule Against “Aid in Dying” and Warn of Its Dangers
The New York Court of Appeals has dealt a resounding blow to the state’s assisted suicide lobby.
Can We Stop an International Roe v. Wade?
We must act now to protect unborn children not just at home, but around the world.
The Contagion of Euthanasia and the Corruption of Compassion
The contagion of assisted suicide, once the command “Thou shalt not kill” is set aside, quickly spreads elsewhere. True compassion does not abandon people at their most vulnerable.
The American Medical Association vs. Human Nature
The AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics is a cautionary tale of what happens when medical ethics are grounded in social policy and personal intuitions rather than timeless, universal, and immutable moral truths.
A Tale of Two Sams: You Should Not Actively Euthanize Your Baby
Philosopher Gary Comstock reports that, in hindsight, he would have actively euthanized his terminally ill son. I’ve known his anguish; my son, also named Sam, was also diagnosed with trisomy 18. He took his final breaths five hours after his birth, as I held him in my arms. But I reject the remedy Comstock offers as a solution to this suffering.
A Life Well Spent: Learning from John Noonan
With the recent passing of Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., Americans would do well to honor and remember his example of respectful engagement over fundamental moral issues.
Pleasure, Consent, and Dignity: Peter Singer Is Wrong About the Sexual Assault of a Disabled Man
The more you minimize the value of humanity itself, the less you will be capable of understanding our fundamental rights, the meaning of our bodies, and the gift of sexuality.
Ruler and Guide: What John Marshall Can Teach Neil Gorsuch about the Constitution and the Natural Law
Let us hope that, in his answers and in his future jurisprudence, Neil Gorsuch looks to the example of the Great Chief Justice and sees the Constitution as ruler, the natural law as guide.
Autonomy, Assisted Suicide, and Neil Gorsuch
Neil Gorsuch’s book on assisted suicide highlights the danger of judges who rely on the legal and philosophical principle of radical autonomy to legislate from the bench.
Don’t Let Assisted Suicide Come to the Nation’s Capital
DC’s assisted suicide bill is the most expansive and dangerous our country has yet seen.
Markets, Catholicism, and Libertarianism
Supporting markets as the economic arrangements most likely to help promote human flourishing doesn’t necessarily mean you accept libertarian philosophical premises.
Autonomy or Worthiness? How to Find Dignity in Death
There is dignity in living and dignity in dying, because the concept of “dignity” is inseparable from our humanity. Even when our autonomy is lost, all people can still undergo suffering and death with a noble and dignified serenity.
Restoring the Political-Moral Center
Politicians should return to the common-denominator universal ethical values embraced by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Moral Truth and the Ethics of Voting: How Should I Vote?
Voting always requires a weighing of consequences. The paramount question for the conscientious voter in 2016 is, “Which outcome among the feasible alternatives will promote the greatest good or prevent the greatest harm?”
What Opponents Can Learn from Assisted Suicide Advocates
A playbook exists for reversing the slide toward death on demand. It’s time to use Compassion & Choices’ tactics against it.
Defeated by Default: The Abiding Influence of John Rawls, Part One
John Rawls’s philosophy of jurisprudence permeates America’s top universities and law schools. The acceptance of his principles foreordained the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage and will do the same in future cases involving euthanasia, transgender rights, and polygamy. Part one of two.
Some Choices You Don’t Get to Make: What’s Wrong with Me Before You
A new film in which the main character commits suicide sends the message that “me and my needs come before you and your needs.” It is a tale of autonomy run amok—a result of the radical and ludicrous idea that we do not live connected to, dependent on, or in relationship with others.
Mystery vs. Mastery: Reframing the Debates in our Culture Wars
The bitterness of competing narratives in today’s culture wars can give the impression that no agreement is possible between opposing sides. Margaret Somerville proposes a way forward through a shared ethic of wonder at the mystery and dignity of human life.
The Hippocratic Oath: Quaint Relic or Solemn Vow?
Despite its naysayers, the original Hippocratic oath remains an enduring icon of medical ethics because it eschews the unbound and nebulous principles of modern bioethics in favor of traditional virtues and transcendent truths.