james rachels - what is morality

7/25/2019 James Rachels - What Is Morality

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What Is Morality?

James Rachels

&

Stuart Rachels


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First Example: Baby Theresa

(nencephalic inants' babies withoutbrainso)erebrum, cerebellum, and top o s*ull

are missingo+ave a brain stem, thus autonomic

unctions !breathing, heartbeat, etc%$ are

possibleosually aborted in the S- otherwise, hal

are stillborn and usually die within days


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.aby Theresas parentsvolunteered her organs or

transplant% .T% % % /lorida law orbids the removal o organsuntil the donor is dead%

.aby Theresa died ater nine days% +er

organs were too deteriorated to beharvested or transplanted%

? Should she have been *illed so that her organscould have been used to save other children0

!Thousands o inants need transplants each year%$


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Surprisingly ew ethicists sided withthe parents and physicians%

"1t 2ust seems too horriying to usepeople as means to other peoples

ends%# "1ts unethical to *ill person ( to save

person .%#

"3hat the parents are really as*ing oris, 4ill this dying baby so that itsorgans may be used or someoneelse% 3ell, thats really a horrendous

proposition%#


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The .enets (rgument

1 we can benet someone withoutharming anyone else, we ought to doso%

Transplanting the organs wouldbenet the other children withoutharming .aby Theresa%

Thereore, we ought to transplant theorgans%


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3hat about .aby Theresas lie0

? 1snt being alive better than beingdead0 5nly i being alive allows one to have a

lie' to carry on activities and havethoughts, eelings, and relations withother people%

1n the absence o suchthings, mere biological lieis worthless%


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The (rgument That 3e Should 6ot se 7eople as8eans

1t is wrong to use people as means toother peoples ends%

Ta*ing Theresas organs would beusing her to benet other children%

Thereore, it should not be done%


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+ow is .aby Theresa being used0

? 9ague sense o use% 3hat does itmean0 9iolating .aby Theresasautonomy0

.aby Theresa has no autonomy toviolate% She has no preerences aboutanything, nor has she ever had any%


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The (rgument rom the 3rongness o 4illing

1t is wrong to *ill one person to saveanother%

Ta*ing Theresas organs would be

*illing her to save others%So, ta*ing the organs would be

wrong%


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+owever% % %

? Shouldnt there be an exception tothe rule0 .aby Theresa is not conscious- she will

never have a lie- she is going to diesoon anyway- and ta*ing her organswould help other babies%

? Should we regard .aby Theresa asalready dead0 7erhaps we should revise our denitions

o death%


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Second Example: odie and Mary

)on2oined twins, 2oined at the lower abdomen-spines used- one heart and one pair o lungsbetween them%

3ithout an operation to separate them, bothtwins would die within six months%

This would save Jodie, but 8ary would die%

The parents reused permission or the

operation, but courts o*ayed it%Jodie lived, and 8ary died%


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The (rgument That 3e Should Save as 8any as 3e)an

There is a choice' save one or letboth die%

? 1snt it plainly better to save one0

6ot rom the parents perspective%


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The (rgument rom the Sanctity o +uman:ie

(ll human lie is precious, regardless oage, race, social class, or handicap%

The prohibition against *illing innocenthumans is absolute%

8ary is an innocent human being%

Thereore, she should not be *illed%


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+owever% % %

8ary would not be *illed during theoperation but merely separated rom Jodie%+er death would be due to her bodysinability to sustain her lie%

7erhaps it is not always wrong to *illinnocent human beings% % %o 1 the innocent human has no uture because she

is going to die soon no matter what% % % (6;% % %

o She has no wish to go on living !perhapsbecause she has no wishes at all$% % % (6;% % %

oThis *illing will save others who can go on tolead ull lives%


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Third Example: Tracy !atimer

year>old victim o cerebral palsy, *illedby her ather with exhaust umes whilethe rest o the amily were at church%

Tracy weighed less than ?@ lbs% and wasdescribed as "unctioning at the mentallevel o a three>month>old baby%#

Robert :atimer was sentenced to


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The (rgument rom the 3rongness o;iscriminating against the +andicapped

+andicapped people should be giventhe same respect and the samerights as everyone else%

Tracy was *illed because she washandicapped%

Thereore, *illing her was wrong%


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Th Sli Sl


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The Slippery Slope(rgument

1 we accept any sort o mercy *illing,we will slide down a slippery slope,and in the end all lie will be heldcheap% 3here will we draw the line0

?3hat about otherdisabled people, the

elderly, the inrm, andother uselessmembers o society0


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.eware o slippery slopesA

!This *ind o argument is all too easyto abuse% 1 you are opposed to something but

have no good arguments against it, youcan always ma*e up a prediction aboutwhat it might lead to- and no matterhow implausible your prediction is, no

one can prove you wrong%


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"eason and Impartiality

8oral 2udgments must be bac*ed bygood reasons%

8orality reBuires the impartialconsideration o each individualsinterests%


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8oral Reasoning

3e cannot rely on our eelings, nomatter how powerul they might be%

5ur eelings may be irrational and may

be nothing but products o pre2udice,selshness, or cultural conditioning%

5ur decisions must be guided as muchas possible by reason%

The morally right thing to do is alwaysthe thing best supported by thearguments%


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+ow can we tell i an argument is reallygood0

Cet the actsstraight%

.ring moralprinciples into play%(re they 2ustied,

and are they beingcorrectly applied0


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The ReBuirement o 1mpartiality

Dach individualsinterests areeBually important,and no one shouldget specialtreatment%

1 there is no good

reason or treatingpeople diferently,then discrimination

is unacceptably


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The Minim#m $onception of Morality

8orality is, at the veryleast, the efort to guideones conduct by reason

Ethat is, to do whatthere are the bestreasons or doingEwhilegiving eBual weight to

the interests o eachindividual afected byones decision%


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The $onscientio#s Moral %&ent' ' '

1s concerned impartially with the interests oeveryone afected by what he or she does%

)areully sits acts and examines theirimplications%

(ccepts principles o conduct only aterscrutiniFing them to ma*e sure they are 2ustied%

1s willing to "listen to reason# even when itmeans revising prior convictions%

1s willing to act on the results o this deliberation%

james rachels - what is morality

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