Is Pulling the Plug Ethical (Term Paper Sample)

Is Pulling the Plug Ethical?
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Pulling the Plug
For many years there has been a strong discussion on whether or not it should be morally acceptable for either a medical practitioner or an individual to terminate a life. America currently ranks suicide as the tenth leading cause of death with 39,518 suicide related deaths having been reported last year (Facts and Figures, 2014). This means that individuals’ calls to pull the plug have become a major challenge in America. Doctors worldwide have at one point or another been faced by situations in which they need to decide whether or not their conscience can allow them to pull the plug on critically ill patients. The arguments that oppose calls to pull the plug and those that support it have all been backed with some of the common ethical theories including Utilitarianism, psychological egoism, and active and passive euthanasia.
Utilitarianism refers to a normative ethics theory that states that proper courses of actions maximize utility by maximizing the total benefits while reducing the negatives or suffering (John Stuart, 2012). The theory basically revolves around the art of decision making when one is faced by life challenges that places them in a dilemma. Utilitarianism is always a hedonist approach if and only if the action’s results end up causing negative impacts on a third party. The foundation for morals upholds that actions are not wrong if they promote happiness, and are wrong if they do not produce happiness. The ethical theory can be related to the moral dilemma of whether or not it is acceptable to allow someone to have a say and determine the fate of a life. The theory would only support suicide cases if they would maximize the total benefits and reduce the negatives of suffering. Suicide would reduce the negatives of suffering of the particular individual that commits suicide. This holds water as it is believed that upon death then one passes on to a different world that is free from suffering but full of happiness. However, every individual has someone who cares for them be it their parents, family and friends. The suffering caused to all these individuals definitely surpasses the one that the individual who committed suicide would be freed from. Furthermore, the foundation for morals upholds that actions are not wrong if they promote happiness. Suicide does not promote happiness among the friends and family of the deceased. They will be left behind to mourn in sadness the untimely death of a loved one. In case they had kids then their kids will spend the rest of their lives mourning the fact that they have lost one of their parents. The ethical theory of utilitarianism does not therefore support the acts of pulling the plug as illustrated by the arguments.
Psychological egoism is an ethical theory that is widely supported by ordinary men. Philosophers, political economists, and psychologists almost universally accept this theory (Orend, B., 2008). The theory’s major strength is that it accepts the fact that most of the actions of humans are motivated by selfish desires. These selfish desires could be influenced either by the external or internal environment. This doctrine insists that people are only capable of pursuing or desiring something ultimately if these things are their own self interests. This means that for one to be passionate about something and to have the zeal to get out there and make an effort towards achieving them then they are most likely to be influenced by their self-interests. Psychological egoism is about what the case is and not what ought to be the case. The theory describes the psychological facts and does not just prescribe the ethical ideals. Universal selfishness as described in psychological egoism isn’t just a coincidence or accident but rather consequences relating to psychological laws that are unavoidable. The various factors that influence the decision making processes are guided majorly by the psychological laws. All these can be related to pulling the plug. When an individual is in a painful medical situation or is faced by adverse life challenges then they would only resolve to pull the plug if they are motivated by individual selfish desires. It takes a lot of courage for one to make a decision on whether or not to continue living. The major boost that someone can be given during such a dilemma is the motivation that their acts are in their own self interests. If they are passionate about seeking an easy way out of the challenging situation that they have gotten themselves into then they are bound to make irrational decisions such as committing suicide.
Euthanasia is the act of ending the life of a very sick person who has an incurable disease to relieve them from their pain. Active and passive euthanasia is arguably permissible in some cases. Most critics state that it is ethical to sustain treatment and let a patient pass on in case the disease is incurable and the patient is in a lot of pain (Miller, R.W., 2010). Doctors are however not supposed to take direct actions that would have a direct negative impact on the life of the patient. The doctrine of euthanasia has been accepted by most of the doctors including the American Medical Association. The policies of the American Medical Association and the medical profession are however contrary to what the principles of mercy killings stand for. Mercy killings refer to a situation in which a doctor intentionally terminates the life of a patient. The difference between active and passive euthanasia is that active euthanasia is when the doctor gives the patient a dosage of drug that will help end the life of the patient painlessly and faster for instance by using a lethal injection. Passive euthanasia on the other hand is when the doctor simply stops administering any drugs to the patient so as to let them not continue to live longer and thus suffer for a relatively less duration. Both passive and active euthanasia are in my opinion not recommendable. Take passive euthanasia for example, withholding treatment does not necessary mean that the patient will die immediately the treatment has been stopped. Some patients have been observed to live up to a year longer than the doctors had previously predicted. This means that the whole purpose of passive euthanasia will be jeopardized as the patient will still continue to suffer. When it comes to active euthanasia, simply because one doctor has not been able to treat a particular disease doesn’t mean that it is untreatable. The doctor might therefore prescribe a lethal injection yet there is another doctor in a different hospital that might have the solution to the problem.
Psychological egoism provides the most satisfactory moral answer to the question about whether or not is ethical to pull the plug. This theory is majorly strengthened by its consideration of the notion that most of the extreme irrational decisions made by humans, suicide and mercy killings included are influenced by an individual’s selfish interest. The truism of this theory is that the motives and desires of an individual are all the motives and desires of the particular individual. There is no argument that can be used to oppose this fact. Each of the voluntary...