Running Head: Euthanasia and the Utilitarian Theory Should euthanasia be allowed according to utilitarian theory? Student's Name Institution Date Euthanasia and the Utilitarian Theory 2 Introduction One of the hotly contested ethical challenges is whether euthanasia should be allowed or not. Euthanasia is often proposed as a way of ending the life of a severely ill patient whose fate of surviving is always limited. Many people have different perspective towards euthanasia. Some believes that euthanasia is a way of ending suffering and allowing the patient to die peacefully without experiencing more suffering. Others believe that euthanasia is not permissible. In most cases, when nurses are faced with such dilemma, they need to apply the ethical theories or ethical approaches. There are many ethical approaches that can be applied. One of these approaches is the utilitarian theory. The paper will explore whether the utilitarian theory accept the euthanasia. This will be achieved through a critical review of literature on utilitarian and euthanasia. Analysis Article by Singer (2003) reveals that there are several versions of utilitarianism and they differ on some aspects of euthanasia. It defines utilitarianism as a form of consequentialism. There is act and rule utilitarianism. Singer (2003) adds that according to act-utilitarianism, the right action is the one that has consequences that are better than, or at least no worse than, any other action available to the agent. According to this form of utilitarianism a person is expected to judge the ethics of each act independently (Singer 2003). The second form of utilitarianism is rule utilitarianism. This form is based on the fact that the moral action is the one that comply with the existing rule. The proponents of this form maintains that if something that is generally followed is expected to yield consequences that are better than any other rule that might be generally followed in the relevant situation, then such action will be considered right or moral (Singer 2003). Euthanasia and the Utilitarian Theory 3 Utilitarian theory maintains that people must be allowed to make decision that bring goodness and avoid choosing actions that may result in pain (Singer 2003). This however is not an absolute view because people have different preferences and that some may want to suffer first before happiness. For example, an athlete may want to suffer through training before winning and becoming happy. In other words, this approach encourage preferences. (Singer 2003). Concerning euthanasia, Singer (2003) maintains that if the future life of the person affected is bound to cause more problems or rather if the sick person is more likely to suffer more if left to die naturally, then the best action is to assist such person die because after all the person will die in the end. This approach aims at stopping suffering (Singer 2003). However, the main aspect considered is the individual decision of the person affected. The person affected must give his or her view. If he or she says that he should die, then the physician can assist. (Singer 2003). The theory is also based on the fact that as far as euthanasia is concerned, the decision maker is the sick person. The theory often assumes that the sick person can make autonomous decision and that he is rational. This means that people should be allowed to decide whether or not their lives are worth living. This theory therefore maintains that if it is determined that euthanasia is necessary and that the patient agree or maintains that he or she should be assisted to die, then euthanasia, under such circumstances, is permissible. McCabe (2007), on the other hand, reveals that utilitarian is based on respect of a right to individual judgement. This implies that whether the sick person should die or not should be determined by the will of an individual or group of individuals. The theory maintains that the necessity to venerate individual autonomy becomes ethically supreme. Concerning euthanasia, the article reveals that a good death is a death which occurs under the control and judgement of the relevant individual. A person himself should determine how his or her death should be and Euthanasia and the Utilitarian Theory 4 the physicians or the people affected should not use general perceptions such as peaceful or well lived life in determining the death. Instead, the article stresses the fact that a good death is one that is 'independently chosen' or a death the situations of which are 'dictated' by the one who is to die. This means that the inclination of the individual should be cherished. In a different article, the author challenges the proponents of euthanasia by claiming that most patient cannot make autonomous decisions. The article reveals that supporters of euthanasia blurred over what is, in fact, a deliberate act taken in order to terminate the life of a human being and try to use softer terms or terminologies. The author concludes that that nurses should be allowed to treat and heal the person in whatever cost because it is the moral action of nurses to treat and not to kill. The author wanted to evaluate euthanasia from the nurses' perspective. This means that physician assisted suicide is antithetical to nursing activity. In other words, nursing involvement in euthanasia cannot be justified on a 'nursing-as-healing-praxis' view. Conclusion From the foregoing analysis, it is apparent that there are different views towards euthanasia as far as utilitarian theory is concerned. The findings from the study reveal that whether euthanasia should be allowed or not depends on many factors, which must be weighed properly before making any decision. Euthanasia and the Utilitarian Theory 5 References Singer, P. (2003). Voluntary Euthanasia: A Utilitarian Perspective. Bioethics, 17(5/6), 526. doi:10.1111/1467-8519.00366 McCabe, H. (2007). Nursing involvement in euthanasia: how sound is the philosophical support?. Nursing Philosophy, 8(3), 167-175. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2007.00312.x McCabe, H. (2007). Nursing involvement in euthanasia: a 'nursing-as-healing-praxis' approach. Nursing Philosophy, 8(3), 176-186. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2007.00313.x