Euthanasia

[gothli]

Hey guys! I'll have my TOK presentation about Euthanasia on this December . I need you guys to help me.

What's your comment about Euthanasia?

Is Euthanasia a mercy killing or inhumanity?

Should some country legalized euthanasia?

thanks :]

[Dennis Valentine]

Lovely to see that others are doing the same topic as I did. Nevertheless, I would like to warn you for several reasons:

To define an honourable death is quite hard.

You will have to look at many angles.

And as my TOK teacher put it: you will have to come up with some sort of "criteria" of whether euthanasia (active or passive) is wrong, and if not, how should we prune this criteria in order to not cause controversy. Because that is what it is, ultimately. Do bear heed that the majority of the world's population is religious, hence it is important to be careful what you state, just like my teacher, she was not fond of legalisation of euthanasia. due to her Christian belief.

My presentation was to my mind almost perfect, yet my teacher did not give the group a full mark. Be cautious, create links and connexions, bring in the areas of knowledge, how the human nature copes with death in general. Show evidence from the Ancient Greeks, the samurais in Japan, and then conclude.

Lovely example: What if a person wants to commit suicide or not willing to prolong his life for whatever reason, but instead of creating a devastating memory for his/her family by executing it in such a horrible way, he/she can rather make it a peaceful getaway. On the other side (a sentence you should be using extravagantly) however, we have the misuse of euthanasia, like Hitler's Nazi Germany and also the Netherlands as it is today.

All together, it was a fun task, because it is such a controversial topic. Don't forget to include your classmates, let them speak their thoughts on the matter, this will make you appear reflective and the teacher always like that. And finally, don't forget to ask heaps of questions as you go, because there is always no certain answer. By doing so, you will make the audience think and ponder, and that is the beauty of the subject per se. Only then can you achieve a full mark and receive the applause gloriously.

I can only bid you a best of luck for now, but don't hesitate to ask for more questions, as I will gladly respond to them as soon as possible.

[SharkSpider]

Well, for the sake of being thorough, when you're talking about Euthanasia, be sure to talk extensively about morals and ethics, because you'll never come to any sort of idea unless you agree that certain basic things are right, and certain basic things are wrong. Usually, you need agreement to have a moral dilemma, because without the same premises, others may not view it as a problem. With this subject, we tend to believe that a person has a right to make their own choices, but not when the choices have negative consequences for others (this is the assumption upon which the principle of society is based) In this case, it becomes difficult to determine whether or not the right supercedes the responsibility, and who gets to decide which is which.

What's important is to show people that this is, in fact, a moral dilemma. Many strongly religious people will not see it as a problem, because they simply say "It is wrong to kill yourself. Therefore Euthanasia is wrong." Likewise, many strong libertarians will simply say "We cannot tell people what to do, therefore Euthanasia is fine." As written, neither of these are good arguments, since no reasoning for the premises is supplied, other than perhaps an appeal to moral absolutes which may or may not exist. Might be a good idea to start off with these basic arguments or something, I know that the person who did Euthanasia in my class started out with a quote from the pope, and one from a super-utilitarian greek philosopher who's name escapes me right now.

Anyways, great topic choice, and good luck with the presentation.

[xsandralee]

here my opinion:

euthenasia cannot be 'good' or 'bad'. It is appropriate in certain situation. For example, let's say a man is 90 years old, but has had a coma for the past 20 years, and their family sees that he's not going to wake up, and even if he did, he'd die very soon, and wants to slowly let him go. If the family allows it - of course, this shouldnt be the case since the individual should decide for his/her own life, but i dont see that as 'wrong' or 'bad'.

if someone asks a doctor to kill them because of physical/emotional pain, burdening them - basically wanting to suicide, i think then, doctors should not consent to this.

to me, euthenasia is almost equivalent to suicide.

for the most part, i'd say euthenasia is wrong.

[Ruan Chun Xian]

Euthanasia is a bit of a cliched topic to be honest. But here's some things that can help you.

DebatePolicySep08.pdf

[gothli]

Euthanasia is a bit of a cliched topic to be honest. But here's some things that can help you.

i'm sorry, HMSChocolate,but the i can't open the pdf file. ><

[desert03]

i'm sorry, HMSChocolate,but the i can't open the pdf file. ><

hey i did sort of a mock presentation on the same topic and got like a B..

some thing that my teacher said i srt of lacked was the inclusion of personal examples.. U might want to include one in ur presentation to really show how euthanasia if allowed and if not can impact relatives and society.. also consider embedding the areas of knowledge (not all) into ur presentation... I feel the argument u put across is much more important thatn the conclusion that u make.. u cud make a skit on it.. to show a suffering patient and how probably his/ her relatives, doctor, religious leader and all are having a debate on whether to let the patient of the support system or nt.. sumthin like that... good luck though

oh n incase u decide to do a ppt presentation mae it less wordy or else they might end up thinkin u r reading even u know wat ur saying..

Edited January 20, 2009 by Mike
Do not post your work. Someone may steal it. ~Mike

[avrila]

Hey guys! I'll have my TOK presentation about Euthanasia on this December . I need you guys to help me.

What's your comment about Euthanasia?

Is Euthanasia a mercy killing or inhumanity?

Should some country legalized euthanasia?

thanks :]

Well, firstly we have to define what is Euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act of killing someone painlessly, esp. to relieve suffering from an incurable illness . As in Greek, it means 'easy death'. As this issue involves human life, it should be presented carefully by giving your clear justifications and reasons. In TOK Presentation, I believe that you need to say out your stand from the knowledge issue that you chose. Knowledge issue is actually question that directly refer to our understanding and acceptance of knowledge. You have to say whether you support Euthanasia or not.

Although Euthanasia involve killing people, it do have some benefit in a way. For instance, Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment. Is it wise for a person who does not have any chances of living be killed to cut cost of medication? But the act of killing itself is wrong in the first place.Maybe you can argue on this. They are some country that legalised Euthanasia such as Belgium.

I think this video maybe can help you: It entitled "Death debate: Should euthanasia be legalised?"

and I think this site has everything that you need:

http://www.euthanasia.com

and here some good TOK stuff that you can refer to:

http://www.ibtok.com/tok_links/index.htm

http://uwcac.org.uk/acad/thok/main.htm

[lisalisa313]

Definitely define Euthanasia. Also maybe talk about assisted physician suicide? It's legal here in oregon, and is something that was quite controversial for a while.

[booboo]

My topic is on euthanasia too!

But when you do the pros and cons, do you include them in your knowledge issues like pros and cons in ethics

or do you do them separately?

I was talking about this with me TOK teacher but I wasn't quite sure what she wanted.

Any advice?

[Sears]

Hey I also talked about this in my TOK class back then,,,

well I think I shouldn't waste my time explaining since it wouldn't be much different then what others already wrote here...

well this is an interesting issue and last time we got something like the pro and contra and both have interesting arguments

Even though I'm pro with it but I have nothing against those who are against it

I just personally think that euthanasia may ONLY be done, if the person want it theirselves since it would be their decision, but if its others people's decision then I disagree

because I believe that all of us have the right to choose and like an old saying that say "What ever you think right or wrong you're right, coz the coice is yours"

I totally agree with that because I do know that everyday we're making decisions and whatever comes next

good or bad, its our concequences,,

so I think that if the person think that its not possible, then it's that person's decision and I shall let it be

[gothli]

My topic is on euthanasia too!

But when you do the pros and cons, do you include them in your knowledge issues like pros and cons in ethics

or do you do them separately?

I was talking about this with me TOK teacher but I wasn't quite sure what she wanted.

Any advice?

haha.. i'm glad that you have the same topic with me. lol. umm.. i'm discussing whether euthanasia is a mercy or inhumanity. i think i discuss it separately, coz i'm not only discuss in ethics area,but also others like laws,medical,etc. i hope my advice can help you