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Pros And Cons Of The Slippery Slope Argument

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According to our text, the slippery slope argument is defined as “accepting assisted death for any person will increase the demand and approval of death for many other people” (p. 298). The way Kastenbaum explains it in Chapter 9, most of society would lean towards sympathy in response to a person’s request to be assisted in easing the pain of death but would caution as to when and where to draw the line of assisted death (p. 275). This is what creates a “slippery” slope of decisions. Even more questions arise when we ask who gets to make these decisions; who/how many are allowed to receive the decision and whether or not someone can appeal the decision.

The slippery slope argument has been argued for years. It is well known that Dr. Jack Kevorkian could be the poster child of the slippery slope argument. He assisted many people in their own euthanizing, …show more content…

I believe this is a justified way to die because it allows someone who is terminally ill to die on their own terms and not waste away –something they may not want to do in front of their family. In addition, it takes into account the other side of the slippery slope of when to draw the line in assisted deaths. Oregon, Washington and the Netherlands require proof of terminal illness, a competent human that is capable of making decisions and you must be followed by a physician that has to confirm the diagnosis along with required written requests and witnesses to sign the paperwork. These requirements are there to make certain that the person is not actually healthy, like most of Kevorkian’s clients, and completely understands what they are asking for and it also makes it so the doctors are not held accountable for assisting in the death of their patients but are allowing them the decision to make their own

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The slippery slope argument is a misconception that reasons that an event will occur after a specific event has occurred; in other words, it is the idea that when an event occurs, another event will follow, thus it is necessary that the first event must be stopped. As for the event that follows, the first event will be judged and the second event that occurs will be accepted as the outcome of the first event, even though there is no evidence that the second event will occur. According to Jerry Fodor’s Where is my mind, Clark states that in order for the mind to process information, it must go through a series of causal chains. Although, according to Clark, if Otto writes his information down into a notebook, it will not be considered as the

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The article, “After struggling, Jerry Brown Makes Assisted Suicide Legal in California” by Patrick McGreevy discusses the controversial topic of assisted suicide. This new law in California should be overturned. The author states, “As someone of wealth and access to the world’s best medical care and doctors, the governor 's background is very different than that of millions of Californians living in healthcare poverty without that same access — these are the people and families potentially hurt by giving doctors the power to prescribe lethal overdoses to patients.” This is important because people who have terminal illnesses that can’t afford their medical treatment can be pressured into taking lethal overdoses. The author continues, “They also

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The fears are often fueled by a concern that such shifts in our thinking may allow tampering with the genetic inheritance of species in an irreversible slide to unchecked commodification of animals and finally to genetic manipulation of humans. Sometimes, instead of the slippery slope, the image of a damn burst is invoked. The idea is that if we begin with “transgenic alteration of inherited materials, the process will be pursued to the point where the human genotype is also altered.” Attention to slippery slope arguments in relation to other practices, for example, certain punishments, abortion, and physician-assisted suicide. Bernard Williams, a noted philosopher, has written an interesting article titled, “Which slopes are Slippery.”

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The Slippery Slope argument also suggests if euthanasia is legalised then it will not just be to those with a terminal illness. It will gradually include more and more people into the category for those who euthanasia is acceptable for: such as it may start to include people with emotional suffering or common disabilities. Also going down the road of the slippery slope argument people believe euthanasia will stop people looking into palliative care treatments and stop people from looking for cures to terminal illnesses. Most Christians would argue that we should not legalise euthanasia they do not think it is right. When I interviewed students from Wheaton High School (Chicago) they said they disagree with euthanasia because we would be ruining God’s plan.

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361 Words | 2 Pages

“Be smart, be strong, live honorably and with dignity, and just hold on” (Fray). Physician assisted suicide or better known as Death with Dignity isn’t your everyday topic or thought, but for the terminally ill it’s a constant want. The Death with Dignity isn’t something that all people or religions are in favor of and nor is the act passed in all states in the United States. Only three states in the U.S. today, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington offer their residents the option to have aid in dying as long as all the requirements are met. Death with Dignity doesn’t effect just the terminally ill person, but as well as family and friends around them creating many conflicting thoughts when opinion if Death with Dignity is truly moral and a choice

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Their argument is that the medical practice of physician-assisted death is unethical because it violates the bioethical principle of nonmaleficence, which refers to the obligation of the physician to not cause needless harm. Physician-assisted death is not causing needless harm because the patient themselves is requesting the death-dealing medication and taking them, or not taking them, when, and if, they feel ready to die. It would be needless harm if the physician in question actively euthanatized the patient by administering the death-dealing medications without the patient’s consent. However, from a legal standpoint, physician-assisted death does not include active euthanasia, which is illegal in all fifty states; it simply requires the physician to provide the mentally competent patient with the information they asked for regarding the process and a prescription for the death dealing medication. The physician is not causing needless harm to a terminally ill patient who wishes to die mercifully on their own time instead of six months down the line in possible pain and suffering.

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In this case, and many others worldwide, physician assisted suicide is morally permissible at all ages for anyone with a terminal illness with a prognosis of 6 months. This is supported by act based utilitarianism and the idea of maximizing pleasure and reducing pain and suffering on an individual circumstance. By allowing a terminal patient to die a less painful death, in control of the situation, and with dignity, the patient will have amplified

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It is believed that once practicing physician-assisted suicides becomes an acceptable concept in society, the next steps will easily be taken toward unethical actions such as involuntary euthanasia. Edmund D. Pellegrino, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Medical Ethics at Georgetown University claims that our healthcare system is too obsessed with costs and principles of utility. He defies the belief that the slippery slope effect is no more than a prediction, by reminding the outlooks and inclinations of our society. Furthermore, he believes there comes a day that incompetent patients and those in coma won’t be asked for their permission to use euthanasia. The Netherlands is another example of such misuse.

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I was, and am a proponent of "death with dignity", since many years ago I had heard for the first time about Dr. Kevorkian. Then, I was concerned about the possibility of "assisted suicide" being used for other then voluntary, and consensual decision to end one's life. The passed in Oregon in 1994 "Death with Dignity" law, allows patients with chronic, debilitating diseases, and /or the end stages of their diseases, when there is no hope for cure, and the suffering becomes unbearable, to die with dignity. It allows them control, and a choice of whether they want to continue or whether they want to end their life. The fact that candidates for death with dignity have to fully understand what their decision means, and be able themselves to take the medication, eliminates the possibility of criminal wrong doing, such as was the case with Dr. Kevorkian assisted suicide, where the patient was injected with a lethal medication by other person then the patient himself.

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1228 Words | 5 Pages

Physician assisted suicide has been an intensely debated problem for years but if used properly, could be an effective way to help those who are suffering at the end of their life. Countless people have been advocating for physician assisted suicide for years and the most famous advocate for assisted suicide was Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He was a pathologist but received the nickname Dr. Death after it was estimated that between 1990 and 1999 he assisted 130 terminally ill individuals in their assisted suicides (“Jack Kevorkian”). Dr. Kevorkian is considered a crusader for physician

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359 Words | 2 Pages

What some people think though is that if we set regulations on the doctors, then the Assisted Suicides will be kept to only those who wish for it, but what if the doctors think a patient is better off dead than alive? What if the physician thinks that the patient is not worth saving or keeping alive? One person says “Of all the arguments against voluntary euthanasia, the most influential is the 'slippery slope': once we allow doctors to kill patients, we will not be able to limit the killing to those who want to die”

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675 Words | 3 Pages

the slippery slope is the fear that if legalised, euthanasia will lead from voluntary to non voluntary or involuntary practices. The Church has seen first hand the effects of the legalisation of euthanasia in Belgium, Belgium has deemed that voluntary as well as involuntary to be normal practice and accepted in their own society. Belgium allows people above the age of 16 to be euthanized if they have a incurable disease, the disease does net have to be deemed deadly either. The country has gone so far in allowing and promoting euthanasia that they are now euthanizing down syndrome children at birth. Not only does this seem immoral in the eyes of the church, it breaks one of the key ethical principles of the catholic church.

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522 Words | 3 Pages

Patients have the right to the kind of treatment they want. 3) Conclusion a) Physician assisted suicide can help treat the terminally ill how they would like to be treated. b) The long history of assisted suicide speaks for itself in the matter of if it should be legal or

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1497 Words | 6 Pages

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1321 Words | 6 Pages

The Right to Die has been taking effect in many states and is rapidly spreading around the world. Patients who have life threatening conditions usually choose to die quickly with the help of their physicians. Many people question this right because of its inhumane authority. Euthanasia or assisted suicide are done by physicians to end the lives of their patients only in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, New Mexico and soon California that have the Right to Die so that patients don’t have to live with depression, cancer and immobility would rather die quick in peace.

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