Euthanasia. Is it a justifiable idea? And if it is, under what circumstances should it be allowed? To help clarify terms: Euthanasia pertains to a death which functions to benefit the person who dies. This death ultimately requires a final act by someone other than the person who dies. There are many ways this question can be approached and dealt with. In this case I'll be referring to a hypothetical situation involving a patient dubbed "MB". This woman has suffered severe brain damage as a result of an aneurysm. However her condition is not a classic comatose state. Her waking and sleeping patterns are noticeable as are her responses to pain and pleasure stimuli. Her "speech" is limited to groans which seem to convey displeasure. She has no noticeable reactions to speech, is able to be mouth fed, and appears to not recognize her family. Financially there are no difficulties posed for the family.
Many euthanasia cases are centered around situations similar to this, and are often justified by proving the patient
With MB now classified as "essentially dead", should we be allowed end the biological life of her now "non-MB" body? With the interests of the family in mind, we should. The family should not be made to deal with the agony of having the essentially lifeless body of MB continue to biologically live, when there is no hope for human life to return to it. The next question would now be: May we end her life? Once again the family should have the say in whether or not the body should continue to live. The fact is MB no longer can make this decision; not because she is not cognate, but because she no longer exists as a personality. Because of this, the body has to be placed in the hands of someone to make the decision to end the body's life, by whatever means are appropriate
Now the question is: Is MB "essentially dead"? In some aspects she certainly is not. Her reactions to pain and pleasure stimuli are synonymous with each respective stimulus (i.e. she reacts positively to positive stimuli and negatively to negative stimuli). Along the same lines, she also
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