At 12:11 8/07/99 -0700, you wrote:
Singer has attempted to place some ethical
>considerations around the potential for regulations on these activities
>that will always occur.
I think this is sanitising Peter Singer's work. He actually did much more
than point out the present situation he also outlined who can be considered
persons and whom not (eg some people with intellectual disabilities) and
what claim to life they may consequently have for instance.
The euthanasia debate in Australia, which resulted
>in the overturning of legilsation in the Northern Territory that made
>assisted killings legal, seemed to be a triumph of one morally courageous
>side against the "forces of evil".
It is one thing to be "morally courageous" but it does not necessarily
mean that one is right. Painting those opposing euthanasia as the "forces
of evil" (even if in quotation marks!)and others as brave does a
disservice to the sincerely held beliefs and the many arguments given on
either 'side' by individuals and groups.
In fact it just left us with the same
>situation as before - people are killed and babies are aborted, but we are
>too gutless to address any code of conduct around these happenings.
>
Again, it may not be so much a matter of being 'gutless'- most people from
all angles of the debate are engaging in gutwrenching self-examination of
values -
and not so much a matter of addressing a 'code of conduct', legally
enshrining the present situation however one sees that, but reflecting on
what kind of society we want and what sort of practices, allocation of
resources and legislation this requires.
>I do not agree with the lines in the sand that Singer has drawn in his
>efforts to establish a code of ethics, but do support the fact that he has
>tried. Maybe we need to try, in recognition of the fact that what we find
>repulsive - that people with disabilities are killed because of their
>impairments - does happen and will continue to happen.
>
So do we put a 'code of ethics' on an existing situation (many do not like)
or do we seek to (first) honestly identify and address some underlying
problems ?
Erik Leipoldt
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