GS4 · 10 marks · 150 words

The ongoing debate on euthanasia poses several ethical questions. Discuss.

Answered by 8 toppers · CSE 2022–2025

Dimensions of EthicsEthical TheoriesLaw and MoralityEthical Dilemmas in Government

Syllabus: Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships. Human Values - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.

How toppers approached it

From all 8 answers · about 160 words · 25% drew a diagram.

Opening

  • A definition63%
  • A date or context13%
  • A constitutional or legal provision13%
  • No separate opening13%

Body

  • Points75%
  • Points and prose25%

Close

  • A way forward63%
  • A summary25%
  • No separate close13%

The toppers’ answers

Aditya SrivastavaAIR 1 · CSE 2023 · 172 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening · a definition

Euthanasia is the right of a person to choose to die voluntarily. Recent case of woman stopping her friend from travelling abroad for euthanasia revived the debate.

Body · points

Ethical arguments for euthanasia

  1. Right to bodily autonomy of the person
  2. Compassion towards the person if in vegetative state. Eg: Aruna Shanbaug case.
  3. Right to choice which is an essential component of empowerment
  4. State interference in private sphere by disallowing euthanasia → against Hobbesian social contract

Ethical arguments against euthanasia

  1. Person may not be in a state to give consent & violation of Article 21 (right to life)
  2. Right to life does not include the right to die
  3. State has a role of upholding welfare of all and utilitarianism
  4. Allowing euthanasia loosely can be a slippery slope
  5. Can be misused for vested interests

Close · a way forward

Eg: Euthanising parents to get property.

Need of the hour is to have a balanced approach in line with Aristotle's Golden Mean to allow Euthanasia with strict safeguards for ethical usage.

More on Dimensions of Ethics

What ethics is and how it is divided: descriptive, normative and applied ethics, the essence and determinants of ethical action, consequences of ethics in human action.

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