n this paper, I will argue that Dr. Ewing Cook’s actions were morally impermissible by showing that most of the reasons he used to justify his actions of hastening the death of Jannie Burgess are what we called the “slippery slope arguments”. First, I will provide a little context of what Dr. Cook had done to patient Jannie Burgess and the reasons he used to justify his actions. Next, I will defend my thesis by presenting some arguments against Dr. Cook’s reasons and actions, which will lead me to conclude that Dr. cook’s action were morally impermissible. Last but not least, I will address some possible objections to my position. First, let’s take a look at what had Dr. Cook done to patient Jannie Burgess and the arguments he used to justify …show more content…
Amongst such desperate situations, Dr. Cook only saw two options: to abandon the patients or to hasten their deaths. He chose the latter because he believed that it was the humane thing to do under such circumstances and he felt no remorse for what he did. Here are the four beliefs that Dr. Cook shared with he author: “ (1) Given how difficult it had been for him to climb the steps in the heat, there was no way he could make it back to the I.C.U. again. (2) Given how exhausted everyone was and how much this woman weighed, it would be impossible to drag her down six flights of stairs. (3) Even in the best circumstances, the patient probably had a day or so to live. And frankly, the four nurses taking care of her were needed elsewhere. ” (p.10) In other words, Dr. Cook believed that his health condition (that doesn’t allow him to get back to the eighth floor I.C.U.), the physical exhaustion both mentally and physically of the nurses, the woman’s weight (350 pounds), and the woman chronic health condition were enough to justify his action to hasten the death of the patient Jannie Burgess, so that he can get the four nurses off the floor, where they can be more useful. Now that we have a clear picture of Dr. Cook’s