Euthanasia
By: Artur • Essay • 985 Words • November 23, 2009 • 1,162 Views
Essay title: Euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia is the practice of inflicting a person with a painless death preventing them from being affected by diseases that are slowly killing them. Euthanasia, which is a very controversial subject, has four different types that include voluntary and direct, voluntary and indirect, direct but involuntary, and finally indirect and involuntary. Voluntary and direct is where the patient carries out the act of euthanasia, while voluntary and indirect is chosen in advance. Direct and involuntary is where the act of euthanasia is followed through without the consent of the patient. The living conditions we incur allow us to witness indirect and involuntary euthanasia, which is where the doctors and nurses of a hospital decide that it is time to remove life support because there is nothing else they can do for the individual. The first official act of euthanasia was performed and carried out by the Nazis during World War II where they had killed children who were mentally retarded, or had a physical deformity. Since the Nazis without the consent of the people carried out this form of euthanasia it would be classified as direct and involuntary as well as illegal in many countries.
As the power struggle began during the Greek and Roman time period, euthanasia was considered by many to help people die in certain situations. However, as time passed on, and religion became more influential in people's lives euthanasia was considered morally wrong because religion viewed life as "sacred." The act of euthanasia has been given a different definition in various societies, many of which deem it morally wrong over being right. In many developed countries such as Canada, the government has considered it wrong to practice euthanasia and has made a law against performing this action. In other countries, the practice of euthanasia is considered by individuals who believe that they cannot be helped in any other way possible and prefers not to live suffering than have a quick and painless death. Of the many countries that have deemed euthanasia as legal, Switzerland has allowed full permission of euthanasia while other countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and the State of Oregon have only allowed some parts of it.
As religion had evolved and gained more of a political view on this subject, it was considered that people who had believed in a religion as well as god, they were more likely to disagree with euthanasia, while the people who didn't believe in religion (Atheists) leaned more towards the act of euthanasia. Certain religions hold the view of euthanasia very highly while others are not as concerned as others. The Christian religion is not as concerned on the topic of euthanasia while the Buddhist religion applies various punishments towards the thought and execution of euthanasia. In the Buddhist religion, it is considered wrong to praise the act of death in anyway possible that would make a person believe it is right or acceptable. According to the Hindu scriptures, euthanasia was not disapproved neither was it allowed. Because this religion thought it was considered the ultimate truth, to be allowed to choose your time and place of death only the most pure of hearts were allowed to do this. The argument of religion and its views on euthanasia is very complicated because it looks at different aspects and cannot be defined as morally right or wrong based on theirs views.
Many philosophers looked at euthanasia and tried to decide