Rachels, Chapter One: What is Morality?
Cases, Principles to Consider and the Minimum Conception of Morality
Baby Teresa
- If can benefit someone w/o harming another, ought to do so
- Her organs were doing Teresa no good; being alive (if she was alive)
was doing her no good; being alive is a benefit only if one can act
and think and relate to others (that is, have a life)
- Mere biological existence is worthless
- This needs to be qualified. Biological existence is not worthless for a
plant (or is it?). But such existence is perhaps of no value for a
conscious life like a person
- Should not use people as a (mere) means to others ends (wrong to use
people as if they were mere things)
- Typically using people involves violating their autonomy (ability to
govern themselves) by manipulation, deceit, or force
- Taking her organs would be to literally use her body parts, but we do
that with organ transplants
- But we are taking Teresa's w/o her permission but not against her will
(as she has none)
- Would taking her organs go against Teresa's wishes? But she
can't have any wishes, so we can't thwart them.
- Guardian's duty is to do what the patient would want or what is in the
patient's best interests
- Wrong to kill a person even to save another
- Is it always wrong to kill people to save others?
- By brain dead standard, Teresa is already dead; no longer any hope
for conscious life
- Sanctity of human life; every human life is precious, regardless of age or
handicap
Jodie & Mary
- One should save as many as one can
- Killing an innocent human is absolutely (and always) wrong, even if serves
a good purpose
- Reply: but Mary was not killed, she was just separated from her sister
and then died on her own after being separated from Jodie ......?
- Doctrine of double effect: Claims one is not responsible for forseen but unintended consequences
- Abortion as a side effect of removal of uterus to save a pregnant woman from uterine cancer
- Sometimes killing innocent humans is permissible, for example, when (1)
they have no future as will die soon no matter what, (2) have no wish to
live, (3) it will save others who will lead full lives
Tracy Latimer
- Mercy killing (to relieve pointless suffering) is permissible (and legal in Oregon)
- Wrong to discriminate against the handicapped and especially to kill
someone because they are handicapped; handicapped people deserve the
same respect and rights as everyone else.
- But discrimination is wrong (only) when it is arbitrary (when people
are treated differently when there is no good reason for doing so)
- Blind person being denied job simply because employer
doesn't like idea of have a blind person work for him
- Blind person being denied job as air traffic controller
- Not killed because she had cerebral palsy, but because of her pain
and no hope
- No right to decide one person's life is worth less than another's
- Slippery slope argument: mercy killing puts us on a slippery slope the
result of which will cheapen all life judged to be less than ideal (elderly,
infirm, useless)
- These arguments are based on predictions hard to prove either way
- So easy to abuse these arguments; use a slippery slope argument to
oppose anything
RACHELS' MINIMUM CONCEPTION OF MORALITY (core starting point
for almost every moral theory)
Morality is conduct guided by impartial reason
- Effort to guide one's conduct by reasons
- To do what there are the best reasons for doing
- Moral judgments must be backed by good reasons
- Morality is 1st and foremost a matter of consulting reasons (12)
- The right act is "where the weight of reason lies"
- Best idea is one that has reason on its side
- Morally right thing to do is determined by what there are the best
reasons for doing (p. 12)
- Impartially: While giving equal weight to interests of each individual who
will be affected by one's conduct
- Morality requires impartial consideration of each individual's
interests
- A conscientious moral agent is (p. 14-15) one who is
- Impartial
- Ascertains the facts
- Scrutinizes principles
- Are they sound? Are the being intelligently applied?
- Listens to reason, even if this means changing one's views
- Who acts on results of deliberation
- Questions/issues
- Role of feeling in ethics/morality?
- Feelings are good as they show moral seriousness but the can
be an impediment to figuring out what is right; When feel
strongly believe we know what is right and close off to
argument and reason giving
- Feelings can be irrational or the results of prejudice
- Difference between morality and taste
- No reason needed for the taste judgments "I like coffee"; no
such think as rationally defending ones like or dislike for
coffee
- In contrast, morality requires reasons and if they are sound
others need to acknowledge them
- Problem of distinguishing good from bad reasons/arguments
THREE CASES ABOUT HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
- Baby Teresa:
- Florida1992, anencephalic (without a brain-no cerebrum or
cerebellum, but does have a brain-stem, so autonomic functions like
breathing and heartbeat go on)
- Most detected and aborted
- Of those not aborted, ½ are still born
- 300 a year born and usually die in few days
- Can know these babies not live long and that they will have no
conscious life
- Parents volunteered her (and doctors agreed) for organ transplants
(kidneys, liver, heart, lungs and eyes) for other children who would
benefit from it (2000 need transplants a year, never enough available)
- Florida law prohibits removal of organs until donor is dead
- Taking organs out would kill her
- When Teresa died after 9 days, her organs had deteriorated and were
worthless
- Jodie and Mary
- August 2000, woman discovered carrying twins joined at lower
abdomen (spines fused, had one heart, and one set of lungs between
them).
- Jodie the stronger was providing blood for her sister
- Some sets of conjoined twins do well (grow to adulthood and marry
and have children themselves)
- W/o intervention, Jodie and Mary die in 6 months
- Only hope was to operate and separate them
- Save Jodie, but Mary would die immediately
- Parents refused permission to operate as this would hasten Mary's
death and believed that "if it is God's will that both our children
should not survive, then so be it"
- Hospital believed it had an obligation to save one of the infants and
got the courts to agree to operation to separate them
- Jodie lived and Mary died
- Tracy Latimer
- Was a 12 year old in Saskatchewan who had cerebral palsy (brain disease that leads to muscle malfunction)
- In 1993, her father (Robert Latimer) killed her (piped in exhaust
fumes into pickup cab)
- She weighed less 40 pounds
- Had mental level of a three month old baby; nutrition via feeding
tubes, rods in back, bedsores, "leg cut and flopping around"
- Had major surgery on back, hips, legs and more surgery planned
- Difficult to control her pain
- Mother was relieved to find Tracy dead
- Local jury and judge wanted to be lenient (one year in prison and one
year probation), but Supreme Court overruled and sentenced him to
mandatory 25 years in prison.
- Still in prison
- More information:
https://www.robertlatimer.net/story/tracysillness.htm