Singer on Physician assisted suicide

• Main Authors: Sing-Ving Chang, 張馨文
• Other Authors: none
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2006
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/778bn7

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 哲學研究所碩士在職專班 === 94 === Abstract Physician assisted suicide is an important bioethics issue and a thorny moral dilemma. This dissertation gives an analysis of the morality of physician assisted suicide and tries to identify the moral reason for the solution of the moral problems surrounding this issue. Peter Singer is one of the few bioethicist that offers sound arguments to most of the bioethical issues, such as killing and euthanasia. His arguments for euthanasia are meticulous and strong and such arguments could be extended to support physician assisted suicide. Thus, this dissertation takes Singer’s approach for the analysis of the issue, and, argues and seeks a morally acceptable outlet for physician assisted suicide. Though Singer is a utilitarian, he proposes a slightly different preference utilitarianism other than the classical one, and argues that his preference utilitarianism is an improvement over the classical. Thus I start first with an elucidation of his preference utilitarianism and give an analysis of the theoretical implications of his theory as a ground for the exploration of his ideas on physician assisted suicide. The dissertation turns next to the five classical philosophical stands of suicide, including St Thomas Aquinas as representing the traditional theological position, Kant as the point of view of man as an end, Hume and Singer as utilitarianism and Tom L. Beauchamp’s intermediate position. It is arguable that suicide is not absolutely immorally. The dissertation then delves into the central problem of physician assisted suicide, especially Singer’s point of view. Besides getting his support for physician assisted suicide from his arguments for euthanasia, and the distinction between these two concepts and the concept of natural death, I argue that physician assisted suicide is the morally best choice among the three. The dissertation ends with Singer’s responses to such arguments of Leon R. Kass’s sanctity of life, Kant’s man as an end and Beauchamp’s objection to legalization on the ground of slippery slope. It concludes that physician assisted suicide is not a disrespect of life, nor a harm to physician-patient relation, but the solution for the tragic situation of patient with incurable but painful sickness. Consequently, this dissertation supports physician assisted suicide as a choice for incurable and painful patients to end their miserable life. Key words: suicide, physician assisted suicide, natural death, voluntary active euthanasia, preference utilitarianism, principle of equal consideration of interest, principle of autonomy, sanctity of life, slippery slope argument