PHIL 1612 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Euthanasia, Modus Ponens, Glendon College
13 Mar 2016
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Instructor: tony kostroman: setting the stage for the debate. >do we have a right to die at a time and in a manner of [our] own choice?= (p. 95) The answer >depends on the type of moral theory we take as a starting point= (p. 96) Two main theories: rights-based (indebted to kant) and utilitarian: the rights-based argument. For it is a feature of all rights that they can be invoked or not at the option of the right-holder. If you owe me ten dollars, i have a right to demand and get ten dollars from you. But i have no duty to demand repayment; i may, if i choose, waive my right - in this example forgive the debt. Similarly, the correlative of my right to life is your duty not to kill me; but i can release you from this duty by requesting you to kill me or giving my consent. (p. 97)
