123 School Work

Critical Analysis of Active and Passive Euthanasia

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       In "Active and Passive Euthanasia," James Rachels presents a contemporary argument on the controversial issues of active and passive euthanasia. He challenges the traditional moral distinction between killing and "letting one die." He defines active euthanasia as a lethal injection to bring about someone's death and understands passive euthanasia as a refusal to intervene and "let one die." This philosophical debate confronts the conventional doctrine stating that, "In certain situations, passive euthanasia is morally permissible, but active euthanasia is never morally permissible." Rachels' thesis claims that there is no moral difference between active and passive euthanasia. However, there is often good reason to prefer active euthanasia to passive euthanasia. Techniques of passive euthanasia prolong the suffering of the patient and a passive euthanasia distinction leads to decision making on irrelevant grounds.
       Euthanasia is a very prominent issue in medical ethics. Everyone is going to face death, but who knows when? While Rachels concludes that active euthanasia is preferable and equally moral to passive euthanasia, many people are against his argument and believe that actively killing someone is morally worse than passively "letting someone die...