复旦研究生综合英语2修订版-Unit4

Unit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaU8AdditionallnformationfortheTeacher’sReferenceTextActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaWarm-upActivitiesFurtherReadingWritingSkillsAdditionalWorkUnit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaWarm-upActivities1.Trytogiveadefinitionofeuthanasia.2.Brainstormabouttheprosandconsofeuthanasia.3.Collectreferencestothisissueandtakedownnotes.4.Orderinformationandworkoutyourownopinion.Warm-up1.1Unit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaJamesRachelswasanAmericanprofessorofmoralphilosophyandmedicalethicswhowasparticularlyconcernedwithethicalissues.BorninColumbus,Georgia,heearneddegreesatMercerUniversityandtheUniversityofCaliforniabeforejoiningtheUniversityofAlabama,BirminghamDepartmentofPhilosophyfacultyin1977.ThepopularityofhisgroundbreakingtextbookanthologyMoralProblems(1971),whichsold100,000copies,influencedAmericanuniversitiestomoveawayfrommoretraditionalphilosophicallyorientedundergraduatemoralphilosophycoursestowardmorepracticalundergraduatecoursesinethics.AIFTTR1.1AdditionallnformationfortheTeacher’sReference1.JamesRachels(1941-2003)Unit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaAIFTTR2.12.EuthanasiaEuthanasiaisapracticeofmercifullyendingaperson’slifeinordertoreleasethepersonfromanincurabledisease,intolerablesuffering,orundignifieddeath.ThewordeuthanasiaderivesfromtheGreekfor“gooddeath”andoriginallyreferredtointentionalmercykilling.Proponentsofeuthanasiabelievethatunnecessarilyprolonginglifeinterminallyillpatientscausessufferingtothepatientsandtheirfamilymembers.Manysocietiesnowpermitpassiveeuthanasia,whichallowsphysicianstowithholdorwithdrawlife-sustainingtreatmentwhendirectedtodosobythepatientoranauthorizedrepresentative.Unit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaAIFTTR2.2Euthanasiadiffersfromassistedsuicide,inwhichapatientvoluntarilybringsabouthisorherowndeathwiththeassistanceofanotherperson,typicallyaphysician.Inthiscase,theactisasuicide(intentionalself-inflicteddeath),becausethepatientactuallycauseshisorherowndeath.A.RelatedLawsAslawshaveevolvedfromtheirtraditionalreligiousunderpinnings,certainformsofeuthanasiahavebeenlegallyaccepted.Ingeneral,lawsattempttodrawalinebetweenpassiveeuthanasia(generallyassociatedwithallowingapersontodie)andactiveeuthanasia(generallyassociatedwithkillingaperson).Whilelawscommonlypermitpassiveeuthanasia,activeeuthanasiaistypicallyprohibited.Unit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaAIFTTR2.3LawsintheUnitedStatesandCanadamaintainthedistinctionbetweenpassiveandactiveeuthanasia.Whileactiveeuthanasiaisprohibited,courtsinbothcountrieshaveruledthatphysiciansshouldnotbelegallypunishediftheywithholdorwithdrawalife-sustainingtreatmentattherequestofapatientorthepatient’sauthorizedrepresentative.Thesedecisionsarebasedonincreasingacceptanceofthedoctrinethatpatientspossessarighttorefusetreatment.Untilthelate1970s,whetherornotpatientspossessedalegalrightofrefusalwashighlydisputed.Onefactorthatmayhavecontributedtogrowingacceptanceofthisrightistheabilitytokeepindividualsaliveforlongperiodsoftime—evenwhentheyarepermanentlyunconsciousorseverelybrain-damaged.ProponentsjetsUnit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaAIFTTR2.4oflegalizedeuthanasiabelievethatprolonginglifethroughtheuseofmoderntechnologicaladvances,suchasrespiratorsandkidneymachines,maycauseunwarrantedsufferingtothepatientandthefamily.Astechnologyhasadvanced,thelegalrightsofthepatienttoforgosuchtechnologicalinterventionhaveexpanded.EveryU.S.statehasadoptedlawsthatauthorizelegallycompetentindividualstomakeadvanceddirectives,oftenreferredtoaslivingwills.Suchdocumentsallowindividualstocontrolsomefeaturesofthetimeandmanneroftheirdeaths.Inparticular,thesedirectivesempowerandinstructdoctorstowithholdlife-supportsystemsiftheindividualsbecometerminallyill.Furthermore,thefederalPatientSelf-DeterminationAct,whichbecameeffectivein1991,requiresfederallycertifiedhealth-carebetUnit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaAIFTTR2.5facilitiestonotifycompetentadultpatientsoftheirrighttoacceptorrefusemedicaltreatment.Thefacilitiesmustalsoinformsuchpatientsoftheirrightsundertheapplicablestatelawtoformulateanadvanceddirective.PatientsinCanadahavesimilarrightstorefuselife-sustainingtreatmentsandformulateadvanceddirectives.Asofmid-1999,onlyoneU.S.state,Oregon,hadenactedalawallowingphysicianstoactivelyassistpatientswhowishtoendtheirlives.However,Oregon’slawconcernsassistedsuicideratherthanactiveeuthanasia.Itauthorizesphysicianstoprescribelethalamountsofmedicationthatpatientsthenadministerthemselves.Inresponsetomodernmedicaltechnology,physiciansandlawmakersareslowlydevelopingnewprofessionalandlegaldefinitionsofdeath.Additionally,expertsareformulatingrulestobatUnit4ActiveandPassiveEuthanasiaAIFTTR2.6implementthesedefinitionsinclinicalsituations,forexample,whenprocuringorgansfortransplantation.Themajorityofstateshaveacceptedadefinitionofbraindeath—thepointwhencertainpartsofthebrainceasetofunction—asthetimewhenitislegaltoturnoffapatient’slife-supportsystem,withpermissionfromthefamily.In1995theNorthernTerritoryofAustraliabecamethefirstjurisdictiontoexplicitlylegalizevoluntaryactiveeuthanasia.However,thefederalparliamentofAustraliaove