Jack Kevorkian has died at the age of 83 2 or 3 days ago. for those of you who do not know who jack kevorkian is, he is a doctor who promoted "assisted suicide" for terminal patients who he believed had the right to die via "hysician assisted-suicide". he served 8 years of prison on charges of second degree murder for it.
i personally think he was a great man. if a terminally ill patient was in so much pain that they wanted to end that pain, why shouldnt they be allowed to end it for themselves. i believe you should live life, not live life in suffering. and he believed that also.
In some situations, old people simply don't have the force to go on anymore, you can lay them in hospital beds and try to keep them alive but what for? My experience tells me that old people who don't want to live anymore, will die relatively soon by themselves. Keeping them alive longer is simply torturing them, and takes them away the freedom to decide on that moment.
I think the more delicate debate point here is not the age, but the situation; for example, an engraver that founds himself paralyzed from the neck down, and is completely dependent on other people for every single action every day, and probably never will be able to walk or use tools anymore. If such a person lacks the will to go on, after a long time of fruitless fight, do you think is it morally acceptable to keep him alive and care for him?
I think the more delicate debate point here is not the age, but the situation; for example, an engraver that founds himself paralyzed from the neck down, and is completely dependent on other people for every single action every day, and probably never will be able to walk or use tools anymore. If such a person lacks the will to go on, after a long time of fruitless fight, do you think is it morally acceptable to keep him alive and care for him?
if he could speak and tell me yes, id say yes. other wise we would never know
if he could speak and tell me yes, id say yes. other wise we would never know
If he wants to live, then let him live. What if he says he doesn't want to live anymore, what if he clearly states he wants to end this? Would you take him seriously, considering the circumstances?
