The dangers of euthanasia and dementia: how Kantian thinking might be used to support non-voluntary euthanasia in cases of extreme dementia

Bioethics
Robert Sharp

Abstract

Some writers have argued that a Kantian approach to ethics can be used to justify suicide in cases of extreme dementia, where a patient lacks the rationality required of Kantian moral agents. I worry that this line of thinking may lead to the more extreme claim that euthanasia is a proper Kantian response to severe dementia (and similar afflictions). Such morally treacherous thinking seems to be directly implied by the arguments that lead Dennis Cooley and similar writers to claim that Kant might support suicide. If rationality is the only factor in valuing a human life, then the loss of that rationality (however such loss might be defined) would allow us to use essentially utilitarian thinking in order to support non-voluntary euthanasia, since the patients themselves would no longer be moral agents that demand respect.

Citations

Mar 16, 2013·Current Opinion in Psychiatry·Julian C Hughes
Feb 22, 2014·Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology·Gail A Van Norman
Dec 15, 2015·The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy·Raphael Cohen-Almagor
Sep 24, 2014·Journal of Medical Ethics·Michael Cholbi
Apr 17, 2015·International Psychogeriatrics·Brian M Draper
Jan 2, 2014·Dementia·Anne Kari Tolo HeggestadÅshild Slettebø

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anemia

Anemia develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. Anemia of inflammation (AI, also called anemia of chronic disease) is a common, typically normocytic, normochromic anemia that is caused by an underlying inflammatory disease. Here is the latest research on anemia.

Related Papers

HEC Forum : an Interdisciplinary Journal on Hospitals' Ethical and Legal Issues
Jukka Varelius
American Journal of Public Health
Cynthia M Jones
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved