The Legal And Moral Ethics Of Assisted Suicide - 1323 Words

Evaluation of the Legal and Moral Ethics of Assisted Suicide When we are born we are told that we have free will, either by some form of higher power, or some other greater force. As such, it appears reasonable that one would have some preconceived right to choose whether or not they seek death in the case of a terminal illness. This choice to hasten our death for much of the world is not truly ours to make, with adversaries of assisted-suicide opposing the legalization of such acts, we are forcing beliefs onto others who prefer to pass at a time of their own choosing, and not be faced with the undignified process of dying caused by their illness. Who our â€Å"we† to make choices and hold the same standards for everyone, shouldn’t there be a†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"In the ancient civilization of Rome, suicide was not punishable if it was caused by impatience of pain or sickness, or by weariness of life . . . lunacy, or fear of dishonor. The Roman philosophy was that for one â€Å"[t]o live nobly also means to die n obly and at the right time (M. Mikula. L. M. Mabunda.,1999).The Chinese had similar views to the Romans. As Ping-Cheung Lo a professor of philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University explains the early Chinese Confucian ethics state that â€Å"biological life [i]s not the highest importance†¦.One should give up one’s life if necessary, either passively or actively, for the sake of upholding the cardinal moral values of ren and yi†. (Ping-Cheung, Lo., 1999) Chinese believe in upholding the qualities of Ren and Yi known as, benevolence and justice as these qualities were seen as the supreme virtues in life, and governed how one should live or die. In pre-modern China, killing oneself for one’s one sake was considered immoral, however taking one’s one life for the sake of another, was not only quite common, but was considered admirable. The Chinese also believed a form of self-regarding suicide, or suicide to save one’s self from humiliation or di sgrace was also accepted in traditional Confucianism, and even in more modern China. Yet, the Greek philosopher Socrates did not share the same views as the Romans, or the Chinese. Socrates was considered the first philosopher to debate the morality of suicide. Employing the