Choices
The choice between life and death is a serious one, which involves difficult decisions. But there is more to the decision than simply "pull the plug" or "don't pull the plug". Decisions about life and death concern the ethics and morality of the individuals involved. The death of a person rarely only affects that single person; usually there are family members and friends who care about the well being of the person. All things considered individuals are allowed to sign a legal document, a living will, in which they outline what they want to happen (regarding their life) if they are unable to express their wishes later on. A living will document allows an individual the freedom to decide what will happen to them, regardless of what a family member/friend might want. But whose decision should it be whether an individual lives or dies? "American society highly values tolerance of conflicting moral values. It also values the right of the individual to control or govern him!self or herself according to his or her own reasoning and ethical values."(Scenarios page 416) The freedom that a living will creates (for people during critical stages of their "lives") is an important right that should not be denied. The reasons that p
A person's morals are as much a part of them as their personality. Both morality and personality are created within a person due to many outside factors. Morals and personality are influenced by: the environment, situations that the person encounters, and beliefs that are learned by or instilled in the person. Everyone has a set of morals whether they consider certain types of decision-making morality or not. "Morality consists of a set of rules that individuals voluntarily agree to abide by..." There are "rules" within each of us that allows us to decipher between right and wrong, good and bad, fair and unfair, or even attainable and unattainable. The ability for us to make these choices is our willingness to follow our "rules". "The rational basis for urging us to follow the moral rules is that it is for our own good (and that of family and friends) if others follow these rules."(Scenarios page 453) All cases that deal with the possible death of a patient are complicated. The complexity rises when the persons involved have conflicting interests. Such as: a doctor believes that a certain method would be most beneficial to well-being of his patient. But the patient has expressed, through a living will, that s/he wanted specific steps taken in the opposite direction, which party should get priority? To complicate the situation even more what if the patients family, after witnessing the state that the individual is in the want something else done. Whose wishes should be honored? Since each incident is unique it is hard to propose an answer that would be optimal for every situation presented. For the majority of situations the patient him/herself should make the final decision (within reasonable boundaries), since it is their life. eople make certain decisions regarding living wills can be traced back to the morals and ethics of each individual. Throughout the years numerous diverse types of cases have been presented to the courts and laws created based on the court decisions. With each "new" dilemma a new solution must be coined. Solutions to these problems of "letting someone die" versus "keeping someone alive" are created from the moral and ethical views of the people who decide the solutions. Death is an unknown inevitable aspect of life and because of this people have create
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Paul II, Helen John, Roman Catholic, Summer Scenarios, Catholic Chur, morals ethics, living wills, ethics morals, life support, kept alive, moral beliefs, page 416, patient him/herself, scenarios page, roman catholic,
Approximate Word count = 1565
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
