Euthanasi The Immorality Of Euthanasia - 2293 Words

John Baier Dr. Robert Craig PHI 2600 6 April 2013 The Immorality of Euthanasia Lisa Yount defines euthanasia as â€Å"ending another person’s life to relieve otherwise uncontrollable suffering† (151). Such activity is not only directly in opposition of the law in most of the states of the Union, it flies in the face of medical teachings, many philosophical schools of thought, and two major world religions. Euthanasia can also be forced onto people who lack the ability to state that they wish to be euthanized, or, more importantly in that case, that they wish to remain alive. Euthanasia has, in practice, been shown to have a corrupting influence on medicine, and is in total contrast to the natural will to survive. As such, euthanasia is an illogical and immoral practice. In antiquity, views on euthanasia were as varied as they are today. Hippocrates, for example, was opposed to the giving of lethal drugs, and all other forms of euthanasia. Hailed as the founder of scientific medicine, Hippocrates wrote in The Oath (also known as the Hippocratic Oath) â€Å" I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel†(Hippocrates n. pag.). This strict opposition to euthanasia was contrary to the beliefs held by Hippocrates’s contemporaries. Under some circumstances, a group of philosophers known as the Stoics believed that suicide could be acceptable. They considered terminal illness to be one of these circumstances. The Stoics did not, however, consider the