When is it OK to put down a human being? Pt 2
Episode 34 of the Morality of Everyday Things is now live (and part 2 of our 'Assisted Death' series)
Episode 34 is now live. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts and more.
When is it OK to put down a human being?
The second in our series on euthanasia and assisted suicide - later named with the much more provocative title, 'when is it ok to put down a human being?'. In this series we explore how much control we (and other people) should have over our own death. This is primarily focused on circumstances where death is near and inevitable, and life/treatment is becoming pretty horrible in the interim, but we do broaden the discussion a little beyond these boundaries. As we clarify in the episode, agency creates an extremely important distinction between assisted suicide and euthanasia, but even the most liberal countries draw some lines on where agency is not enough to bring us to support someone's wish for death.
In this episode, we talk through some typical moral/philosophical frameworks and what they may have to say about choosing, or being designated, to die. We romp through the typically out-there (by modern standards) ancient greek perspectives - you better be a 'good citizen', or else you're in trouble... - up to typical Kantian/utilitarian perspectives and also looking into "What we owe each other", which is much more than a pop framework that gets a mention in 'The Good Place'.
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Until next time!
Jake & Ant