James Rachels

James Rachels, "Active and Passive Euthanasia"

James Rachels (1941- 2003) earned a B.A. from Mercer University and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He's taught at New York University, the University of Miami, and at the University of Alabama, Birmingham since 1977. Rachels's topics often center around questions of ethics and morality, and his books include The Elements of Moral Philosophy (1986), The End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality (1986), Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism (1991), and Can Ethics Provide Answers? And Other Essays in Moral Philosophy (1997). Rachels also contributes to such periodicals as Bioethics, Nature, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times Book Review. "Active and Passive Euthanasia," which argues that those two forms of killing are morally equal, was first published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1975.

CONTENT

1. Name the first disease Rachels gives as an example in this essay.
2. What's the main difference between active and passive euthanasia?
3. Discuss the major problem with passive euthanasia that the author points out.
4. How does the illustration of the Down's baby with a congenital defect support the author's idea that sometimes euthanasia is decided upon based on irrelevant grounds?
5. Explain the AMA policy statement found in paragraph one.
6. Who are Smith and Jones?
7. Among the general public, why do many people feel that killing is worse than "letting die"?

STRATEGY AND STYLE

1. This author is not a medical doctor. In the last paragraphs he alludes to that fact. Why do you think he does so? What criticism might he have faced if he didn't? What do you make of the placement of this information?
2. Review your answer to "Content" question e.) above. Rachels provides a long quote from the AMA and sets it off from the rest of the paragraph. What are some of the advantages of providing this lengthy quote in one place as opposed to cutting up the writing and discussing it bit by bit?
3. A syllogism is a three-part argument that contains a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Here's an example: major premise— All people need oxygen; minor premise— All earthlings are people; conclusion—All earthlings need oxygen. Find the syllogism in the author's argument that active and passive euthanasia are morally equivalent.
4. What is Rachels's stated purpose here? What arguments does he propose other than you one you studied just above? Do you find his support persuasive.
5. In paragraphs ten through twelve the author uses an analogy to compare the murder of a child to something else. Complete the comparison. What do you make of the analogy in light of the author's view of euthanasia? What limit does Rachels himself put on the analogy here?

1. What are your feelings about euthanasia? What difference does the circumstance make? How might your feelings here have affected your reading?
2. Recall or imagine a time someone close to you was about to die. Did/would you want him or her to stay around no matter what, even if they were great pain. What do these feelings say about your relationship? About you?

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING

1. In 1997 the U.S. Supreme Court held that U.S. citizens have no Constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide. Write an essay the puts forth your opinion, either accepting or rejecting that decision. Make sure that your notion of Constitutionalright is clearly defined.
2. Rachels examines an intersection of the moral and the legal in which the two are at odds. Using your reading and your own ideas, write an essay examining these questions: Are legal things always moral? Are some moral things illegal?

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Rachels explains the underpinnings of why he feels the general public considers killing worse than "letting die," as we discussed above. He doesn't really discuss why doctors might find that so, and why they might have incorporated this idea into public policy. Do some research about the Hippocratic Oath. What is it? Where and when did it originate? What is its general relevance today? How is it relevant to this question of euthanasia and the stated policy of the medical profession?

WEB CONNECTION

Would you like to write a paper about the euthanasia, but aren't sure how to narrow such a topic? Take a look at this directory from Yahoo.com on the subject and you'll get plenty of good ideas.

LINKS

Biographical

Here is a biography containing an elaborate tribute to Mr. Rachels prepared by his son.

The organizers of a speaking series at the University of Richmond prepared this schedule, and it includes a bit of biographical information about Rachels.

Bibliographical

It's time for some of this author's work in etext. This page has links to excerpts from Created From Animals. What did you learn about the book from these parts of it? What kinds of things would you have to have the whole book to find out?

Looking for a quote by Rachels to use in a paper? Take a look at this one about Darwinism.

Cultural

How about an opposing viewpoint on euthanasia? Here's an essay called "James Rachels and the Active Euthanasia Debate" that critiques his approach.

Are you interested in the general topic of moral philosophy, and eager to learn more about it? Good! Here's a history of the subject from Jacques Maritain, who examines the work of the ancient Greek philosophers, Kant, Hegel, Sartre, and others.