According to Aristotle's Nichomechian Ethics, every action/science performed aims at achieving some good. The science of medicine seeks its end which is good health. Consider then the problem of physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide often consists of a doctor providing lethal drugs and the proper instruments to a patient who then willingly administers them to himself with press of a button. It can be said that the reason for seeking good health is the avoidance of physical pain or distress. I would argue then that Aristotle didn't take the example of medicine as far as is necessary. For I think it could be well shown that even though good health is a good in itself, it's also a good that aims at a greater good, which is the lack of physical ailment or pain. Physician assisted suicide is an issue that has divided medical practitioners for a long time.
On the one hand, all medical students are taught that one principle and only one is the most important upon entrance into the field of medicine. Primum non nocere, "First, do no harm." (This also supports the notion that medicine is really all about reducing harm instead of just achieving good health for its own sake.) The Hippocratic Oath, which is an oath that all medical students must take, includes the confession that the future doctors will never do harm. And then there are those who believe that medicine is all about beneficence or doing the most good. It seems that Aristotle is advocating beneficence while Hippocrates is supporting "Primum non nocere."
Here's the dilemma: What is the proper and moral thing to do when a patient is terminally ill? I've discussed this issue in my Essentials of Ethics in Healthcare class, but I've never examined it in scope of its philosophical roots. It seems that you can always find a particular instance that supports each of the approaches to medicine. The patient is already doomed to a painful end due to his/her condition. However, there's something that irks us when we think about a doctor taking someone's life. Still, people who have ever made the decision to allow a loved one to chose suicide will tell you that it's hard to deny the afflicted their wish. As of today, physician assisted suicide is illegal, but patients can still chose to refuse treatment. So what is the good that the medicine strives for? Do the most good? Or eradicate harm?
Hey Steven,
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd weigh in because geographically, this is a fairly important issue for me. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, and recently became legal in Washington (and I live in these two states concurrently).
I voted against the bill to make it legal in Washington State, just before a good friend of mine became terminally ill. Despite my choice, the bill passed, and my friend became ill, and then I felt like a right idiot. As he approached death, I saw and heard and almost felt the pain in his eyes and words. Knowing he wanted to die at a time of his own choosing, I'll say that just feeling this pain in his presence changed every idea of ethics toward assisted suicide I've ever had.
I assume you know of Saul in the Bible, who killed himself on his own sword during a battle. His attendant wouldn't dare hold the sword for him to impale himself on it. I often think of that tale when I think of assisted suicide - that some would rather kill others than help someone kill themselves. It's definitely a crazy, difficult subject.
But to me, it all comes down to experience, as most other issues do. I wouldn't hesitate to vote upholding assisted suicide now that I've seen someone I love want it so badly. I'm not sure how it sits with the medical community, but I know nurses and doctors are just as normal as the rest of us, and I think the more people see the relief assisted suicide brings, the more widespread it will become.
Wow. I don't have that kind of experience, but I do agree that when it comes to something like this, you're never sure where you stand until you've been in the situation. You know... I would say every case in which a patient wants suicide has it's own set of deciding factors and that's why I think there isn't an "opinion" that medical professionals tend to express more often than the other.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts. It's given me a few ideas for future posts.
steve