Chapter 8 Questions

. The decision to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, thus allowing her to die of dehydration, is a case of:

voluntary euthanasia.

physician-assisted suicide.

passive euthanasia.

active euthanasia.

. Which of the following is, according to the introduction to chapter 8, typically defined as the act or practice of killing or allowing someone to die?

murder

ethical killing

suicide

euthanasia

. Which of the following conditions would make a slippery-slope argument fallacious?

The envisioned results of the action or practice under consideration turn out not to be bad.

The central idea of the argument—that the action or practice under consideration will lead us down a path to disaster—turns out not to be plausible.

both A and B are correct; either condition would make the argument fallacious.

neither A nor B is correct; neither condition would make the argument fallacious.

. Rachels compares the cases of Smith and Jones to show that

killing is in itself morally worse than letting die.

letting die in itself is morally worse than killing.

killing is not in itself morally worse than letting die.

none of the above

. In Rachels's thought experiment with Smith and Jones, Jones's action (i.e., his watching the child, who slipped accidentally, drowned in the tub) is supposed to be an example of

killing.

letting die.

assisted suicide.

none of the above

. Philippa Foot explains the moral relevance of the killing/letting die distinction by appealing to

rights of noninterference.

rights to goods and services.

both A and B

neither A nor B

. The question of whether the killing/letting die distinction is morally relevant can be posed by asking whether we are equally to blame for allowing people in Third World countries to starve as we would be for

killing them by sending poisoned food.

refusing to give them the money they need to purchase food.

withholding medicine that they need to survive.

depriving them of knowledge they need to produce food.

. Callahan discusses the Dutch Commission on Euthanasia in 1990 to show that

laws permitting euthanasia can and have been abused.

doctors who perform euthanasia may not report doing so.

both A and B

neither A nor B

. Michael Gill begins by discussing arguments against autonomy-based justifications of euthanasia. According to these arguments, autonomy-based justifications are contradictory because

the value of autonomy relates only to the making of big decisions.

terminally ill patients are not capable of freely choosing to end their own lives.

killing a person destroys his or her ability to make autonomous decisions.

none of the above

. Which of the following statements best describes Gill's response to the argument that the Oregon physician-assisted law falsely assumes that doctors are qualified to judge whether a life is worth living?

Doctors are as qualified as any other mature adult to decide whether a life is worth living.

Doctors are normally required to make life-and-death decisions, and this is no exception.

The argument is self-defeating because it was proposed by medical doctors.

The law only requires doctors to make medical decisions about the patient's life expectancy and prognosis.

. Which of the following best describes Gill's response to Kass's argument that the notion of being "better off dead" is incoherent?

Nonexistent people can still benefit from some things.

Even if the notion is incoherent, there's nothing incoherent about preferring to be dead.

Not suffering is always better than suffering.

Kass unjustifiably assumes that dying implies no longer existing.

. According to Velleman, who, if anyone, should decide whether a patient receives euthanasia?

the patient

the patient's family

the patient's caregiver

legislators

. Velleman worries that, by offering a patient the option of euthanasia,

we allow the patient to harm him- or herself.

we force doctors to harm the patient.

we harm the patient's family.

we harm the patient.

. Velleman worries that the word dignity is sometimes used (incorrectly) to glorify which of the following:

a patient's capacity for self-determination

a patient's worthiness of being protected or cared for

Western culture's obsession with youth, strength, and independence

none of the above

. Velleman believes that the option of euthanasia may harm some patients. What does he think is the most significant way in which this might happen?

by burdening a patient with having to justify his or her continued existence

by eliminating the patient's capacity for self-determination

by eliminating a patient's opportunities for self-determination

by tempting a patient to undergo a painful procedure

. Kant argued that suicide is morally wrong because of the grief and suffering it causes.

True

False

. Intentionally taking human life is always wrong according to natural law theory.

True

False

. According to Rachels, killing is intrinsically morally worse than letting someone die.

True

False

. Rachels claims that the cessation of treatment (in cases of passive euthanasia) falls under the AMA's category of "the intentional termination of the life of one human being by another."

True

False

. According to Foot, whenever a right to noninterference is violated, a right to goods/services is overridden.

True

False

. According to Callahan, there is no inherent moral difference between killing a patient directly by euthanasia and allowing a patient to die by deliberating terminating a patient's life-supporting treatment.

True

False

. According to Gill, the value of autonomy comes mostly from the ability to make "big decisions" that shape our lives.

True

False

. According to Gill, the principle of double effect implies that it is bad for a person to die sooner rather than later.

True

False

. Velleman suggests that "the people with whom a patient wants to maintain intercourse" by continuing to live would never put pressure on him or her to exercise his or her right to die.

True

False

. Velleman recognizes that his argument against euthanasia is paternalistic.

True

False

. Cases of _________ euthanasia are those in which the patient has not given his or her consent to be subject to euthanasia because the patient has not expressed a view about what others may do in case, for example, he or she goes into a persistent vegetative state.

. So-called death with _________ laws permit those who are diagnosed as being terminally ill to request medication that could end their lives.

. Intentionally withholding life-sustaining treatment is an example of _________ euthanasia.

. In Rachels's article, the 1973 AMA policy equates mercy killing with "the _________ termination of the life of one human being by another."

. Philippa Foot says we can mark the distinction between harming someone and allowing that person to be harmed by saying that one person may or may not be the _________ of harm that befalls someone else.

. Callahan believes the need for euthanasia is reduced by high-quality _________ care (i.e., "that part of medicine that aims to reduce pain and suffering").

. Michael Gill states, "The value the Oregon law is intended to promote is the _________ of human beings" (i.e., roughly, the ability to make one's own decisions).

. Gill describes Kass, Pellegrino, and Callahan as appealing to the law of _________ effect to explain how they can consistently endorse the practice of withdrawing life-sustaining treatment for terminally ill patients.

. According to Velleman, in some circumstances, a lack of options can be a(n) _________.

. Velleman's argument against an institutional right to die proceeds on _________ rather than on Kantian grounds.

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