'Euthanasia is a compassionate response to the suffering of life' Essay

'Euthanasia is a compassionate response to the suffering of life'. Discuss the statement - Essay Example Many individuals believe that life is a very sacred and gifted thing and by taking it away it can be tagged as murder, other people, however have different views. They believe that a person’s life is his own and he/she has the right to do whatever he/she wants with their life, even if it calls for termination (Michael Manning, 1998, pg 45-56). Different individuals have varied opinions about euthanasia which is why there is no definite answer to whether or not euthanasia can be justified as a compassionate response to the suffering of life. On one hand, a person who is on a life supporting device for the past week and has shown no signs of recovery will eventually die so one might as well spare him the misery of the pain, suffering and torture that is accompanied by a life supporting device. Conversely, there have been many incidences where patients have come around and successfully fought the battle for life. Thus, miracles do happen, although rarely but terminating a person’s life without giving him a chance to fight is also considered by many as ‘murder’. The time frame involved is also important to be considered. What are the chances of survival for an aged person who has been in surviving artificially for the past four years as compared to a young girl who went on a machine a day before? Therefore , many aspects, perspectives and differences in opinion must be catered to before a final decision regarding pulling the plug is taken. The name Teri Schiavo should ring a bell in every person’s mind. It has been the most renowned cases in the history of America regarding euthanasia. Teri, at the age of 26 was diagnosed with a neurological condition called PVS also known as the persistent vegetative state according to which she was practically brain dead. Teri’s parents fought against her husband and were adamant to let her live on the

Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Liberty - Essay Example Other academicians have related life to existence in state of nature under a social contract. Liberty is connoted into two major different kinds. Classical liberalists and individualists have conceptualized liberty as consisting of individual freedom outside coercision and compulsion, this is the kind of liberty known as Negative liberty.Whereas, social liberalists conceptualize liberty with emphasis to the social structure and agency, this is the second kind of liberty known as Positive liberty .In summary we basically have two kinds of liberty which are: positive liberty and negative liberty. Positive liberty explains that a person can find freedom in his ability to exercise agency, by having adequate power and resources to enable him to do his will without being misled by societal views such as sexism, structuralism and racism. Thomas Hobbes explains that``a free man is he that†¦.is not hindered to do what he hath the will to do `` Hobbes (235).John Stuart Mill was the first to recognize that there is a difference between liberty as a freedom of action or to act and liberty as an absence of coercion. According to Berlin (221), the difference between the two perspectives as opposite concepts of liberty; positive liberty and negative liberty where the latter manifested a negative condition of individual protection from tyranny as well as arbitrary exercise to authority. Whereas the former meant the ability to have means or opportunity other than to lack restraint of doing things or acting. The term negative liberty has different noteworthy aspects.Firstly; it defines zones or realms of freedom in the aspect of science (science of law) Hobbes (197).The distinguishing idea between the two kinds of liberty is traced back to Kant who examined it in the year 1940s; he explained that the two kinds of liberty are not merely different but rivals. Positive liberty requires not