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Single Idea 4659
[filed under theme 20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 5. Action Dilemmas / c. Omissions
]
Full Idea
If someone is being kept alive on a respirator and I switch it off, this makes death no more certain than if, when attaching the patient to the machine, I fail to switch it on.
Gist of Idea
It doesn't seem worse to switch off a life-support machine than to forget to switch it on
Source
Jonathan Glover (Causing Death and Saving Lives [1977], §7.4)
Book Ref
Glover,Jonathan: 'Causing Death and Saving Lives' [Penguin 1982], p.98
A Reaction
In practice, though, neglect is more excusable than a bad act, and (crucially) bad actions always indicate a bad character, whereas neglect may indicate a good person who is very busy. Neglect can, of course, be very wicked.
The
35 ideas
from 'Causing Death and Saving Lives'
4648
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'Death' is best seen as irreversible loss of consciousness, since this is why we care about brain function
[Glover]
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4649
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If someone's life is 'worth living', that gives one direct reason not to kill him
[Glover]
|
4650
|
The quality of a life is not altogether independent of its length
[Glover]
|
4651
|
Utilitarians object to killing directly (pain, and lost happiness), and to side-effects (loss to others, and precedents)
[Glover]
|
4652
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If killing is wrong because it destroys future happiness, not conceiving a happy child is also wrong
[Glover]
|
4654
|
Autonomy favours present opinions over future ones, and says nothing about the interests of potential people
[Glover]
|
4655
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If a whole community did not mind death, respect for autonomy suggests that you could kill them all
[Glover]
|
4656
|
A problem arises in any moral system that allows more than one absolute right
[Glover]
|
4657
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Double Effect: no bad acts with good consequences, but possibly good acts despite bad consequences
[Glover]
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4658
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Acts and Omissions: bad consequences are morally better if they result from an omission rather than an act
[Glover]
|
4659
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It doesn't seem worse to switch off a life-support machine than to forget to switch it on
[Glover]
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4660
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Harmful omissions are unavoidable, while most harmful acts can be avoided
[Glover]
|
4661
|
What matters is not intrinsic value of life or rights, but worthwhile and desired life, and avoidance of pain
[Glover]
|
4662
|
Defenders of abortion focus on early pregnancy, while opponents focus on later stages
[Glover]
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4663
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If abortion is wrong, it is because a foetus is a human being or a person (or potentially so)
[Glover]
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4664
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If abortion is wrong because of the 'potential' person, that makes contraception wrong too
[Glover]
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4666
|
If viability is a test or boundary at the beginning of life, it should also be so for frail old people
[Glover]
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4665
|
Conception isn't the fixed boundary for a person's beginning, because twins are possible within two weeks
[Glover]
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4667
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How would we judge abortion if mothers had transparent wombs?
[Glover]
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4669
|
Persons are conscious, they relate, they think, they feel, and they are self-aware
[Glover]
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4668
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You can't have a right to something you can't desire, so a foetus has no 'right' to life
[Glover]
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4670
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Being alive is not intrinsically good, and there is no 'right to life'
[Glover]
|
4672
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Apart from side effects, it seems best to replace an inadequate foetus with one which has a better chance
[Glover]
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4671
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What is wrong with killing someone, if another equally worthwhile life is substituted?
[Glover]
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4674
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It is always right for a qualified person to perform an abortion when requested by the mother
[Glover]
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4673
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Abortion differs morally from deliberate non-conception only in its side-effects
[Glover]
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4675
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The sanctity of life doctrine implies a serious increase of abnormality among the population
[Glover]
|
4676
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The 'no trade-off' position: killing is only justified if it prevents other deaths
[Glover]
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4679
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One test for a worthwhile life is to assess the amount of life for which you would rather be unconscious
[Glover]
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4680
|
Autonomy seems to acquire greater weight when the decision is more important to a person
[Glover]
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4681
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The Nazi mass murders seem to have originated in their euthanasia programme
[Glover]
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4682
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Euthanasia is voluntary (patient's wish), or involuntary (ignore wish), or non-voluntary (no wish possible)
[Glover]
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4683
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Involuntary euthanasia is wrong because it violates autonomy, and it has appalling side-effects
[Glover]
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4684
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Maybe extreme treatment is not saving life, but prolonging the act of dying
[Glover]
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4685
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Societies spend a lot to save known persons, but very little to reduce fatal accidents
[Glover]
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