Slightly Interesting Views On Ponder-Worthy Philosophical Prompts

Should euthanasia be legal?

22. "Should euthanasia be legal? Why or why not?"

Ibis: This one, in my opinion, is going to be quite hard for me to decide which way I want to roll, since I can see the reasoning behind both sides. However, since we didn't create this book to respond with, "I can go both ways" for everything, I'm gonna go with no, euthanasia should not be legal. 

Currently, we're reading Of Mice and Men, and a common question in the class concerns whether it is okay to euthanize someone, especially if it would save them from their fate. Now, in the book, George ends up shooting Lennie to save him from being placed into jail, or worse. Although it seems like that was the better, more beneficial way to go, I slightly disagree. For example, George had no idea what was stored in the future; they could have very up ended in a better place after that incident, such as a better farm/ranch to work at. You also have to think about how the Great Depression would have had to end at some time, meaning that they would have been given the opportunity to get a better paying job eventually. However, since George merely shot Lenni, we will never know what could have occurred as a result of the incident. 

Personally, believing in God, I don't think that anyone should be in charge of determining whether someone lives or dies. I don't care how bad of a place they are in, it's not up to us to determine when ones' life ends, just as it isn't up to us to determine when it begins, or anything else in between. If God wanted you dead, He would find a way to kill you, for lack of better term. Therefore, if you are still alive, you are alive 

for a reason. 

Why don't we just reflect on that for a minute. 

You are alive for a reason. 

Although it may not seem like you should be, or if you're feeling down about life, finding that there appears to be reason for you to carry on, know this: you're still alive, so there must be a reason behind it. Therefore, you should have no right in determining the end of someone's life.

Now, we get into the more difficult stuff. Life is merely ever black and white, and this topic contains a whole bunch of gray. For example, my family had a relative whom was in a quite wretched physical state and they were basically on their way out. These people had two options: keep the person hooked up to various machines that would merely keep her body going, though everything else was long gone, or to unplug the machines and let them die. Now, this person wasn't going to get any better, and every minute they were still contained was just more money being, essentially, wasted. Although it was a tough decision, they chose to unplug, and the person died soon after. 

Instances like these make answering this question that much harder, as if this isn't hard enough. I suppose in some cases, such as self defense and extreme cases(they were going to die quite soon anyway),  I guess I could understand why someone would euthanize someone, and I could possibly even accept it. 

Risu: Honestly, I have two different views on this.

Morally, I would still be conflicted but likely lean towards yes. It would be a pretty situational thing. If the person who would be euthanized was an older person on their deathbed, someone who was in a coma with injuries and is not expected to wake up, or someone in extreme pain then I would say that it is okay to euthanize them. However, if they are a younger person with a 20% or so chance of survival or waking up (in the case of a coma) then I would say they shouldn't be euthanized.

Religiously is a different story. I am a Christian and we believe murder is a sin (this doesn't include self-defense, accidents, or war casualties). So, the problem here is how likely are they to recover? Euthanizing someone could prevent them from making a recovery later on, but it could prevent someone who is dying from enduring that much more pain before they do die. None of us know when others are going to die so we can't be sure we are doing the correct thing.

Overall, I would say that it should be legal, but highly regulated. It's one of those gray areas.