Thomas Aquinas Arguments Against Euthanasia

Euthanasia is a term derived from the Greek words Eu meaning 'good' and Thanatos meaning 'death'. In modern society, Euthanasia means more than just a 'good death' and is a practise that involves intentionally ending ` a person's life to remove suffering. Euthanasia can be in either voluntary, non-voluntary, involuntary, passive or active forms. In most cases, it can be done on request from the patient or is implemented by doctors or relatives when a patient is unable to make a rational decision for themselves. Euthanasia a global issue that raises a number of on-going ethical debates that are either in opposition to euthanasia or argue that human beings have autonomy over their lives. Many people despise euthanasia as they perceive such deliberate

Natural law can be comprehended as universal, non-man made and immutable conditions that govern the consequences of behaviour. It is a law that has exerted the most influence on arguments that contradict euthanasia as it proposes that human beings are guided by human nature to figure out the laws and act in conformity with them. Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-74), a Christian philosopher and Theologian developed a fuller account of Aristotle's theory and believed that natural law is a moral code that exists between the purpose of nature, created by God that human beings ought to adhere and live accordingly by. To understand the natural law, one must understand what God's intentions are. Aquinas adapted many of Aristotle's thinking's and fused the idea of an External Law of God that was created to establish a sense of order and purpose that reflect his will. The natural law exists an approach to assist and direct humans to reach eternal destiny with God and covers both the external view of actions and their internal motivations. Aquinas alluded to the natural law as a guide that; "man needs to be directed to his supernatural end in a higher way" (Aquinas,1947, II.i. Q.94 art.2). He also proposed that there is a precept which all the other natural laws played a part; "A certain order is to be found in things that should be apprehended by men… that good is to be done and evil to be avoided. All the other

94 art. 2) These are insinuated as the primary precepts and since they're all deontological, they have no room for leeway. They comprise; to