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Application of Normative Ethical Theories (Natural Moral Law (Human life…

- - - - Aquinas rejected any form of voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide, arguing that it is not up to oneself to decide when to end his own life, and this can only be God's decision, and therefore it violates the primary principle of worshipping God. Aquinas says that ending one's own life to avoid the suffering of his current life is 'adopting a greater evil in order to avoid a lesser,' as the most fearsome evil is not suffering but death itself
    - - Abortion can never be deemed permissible by Aquinas' virtue ethics, as it goes agsainst the primary precept of preserving innocent life, and the secondary precent 'do not murder.' It also violates the primary precept of worshipping God, as God is the creator of human life, so it is not up to us as humans to 'play God.' Abortion also fails to meet the standards of the doctrine of double effect, as it fails to meet the means-end condition, which holds that the bad effect must not be the means by which the god effect is achieved. The Catholic Church follows Aquinas' beliefs on abortion, with no exceptions, even if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest. However, if the woman is pregnant and her uterus happens to be cancerous, then it would be morally good to save her life with a hysterectomy, which would cause the unintended side effect of killing the unborn child. This meets the doctrine of double effect, because the death of the child is not the means of saving the woman's life, and it is just as important to save her as it is the child
    - - Aquinas' natural moral law would reject cloning because although it promotes the primary precept of reproduction, it abandons the usual methods of procreation through sexual relationships. Aquinas would see it as a failure to worship God, who is the creator of life, and humans cannot 'play God,' as this is undermining his authority
      - Aquinas' natural moral law would reject embryo research because it goes against the primary precept of preserving innocent life, and against the secondary precept 'do not murder,' as the genetic blueprint of a human is present at the moment of conception, so biologically, a human becomes an individual person at this point. The argument that stem cell research has the potential to cure diseases does not pass the doctrine of double effect, as it does not pass the means-end condition, which holds that the bad effect must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved
      - Aquinas' natural moral law would not agree with designer babies, as human life is created 'in the image of God,' and therefore is not to be tampered with as this would go against the primary precept of worshipping God, and humans cannot 'play God' as this would undermine his authority
    - - Aquinas' Natural Moral Law would permit capital punishment, as it does not violate the primary precept of preserving innocent life, as the person is (presumably) guilty. Capital punishment arguably fulfils the primary precept of preserving innocent life, as to kill a criminal takes away the threat they pose to the innocent people in society. Aquinas says that capital punishment is legitimate, but it is not the responsibility of individuals, as this would be considered revenge and could get out of hand, and can only be carried out by a legitimate authority, as it is up to the state to protect its people from criminals, and this means that the executioner does not become a murderer as he is acting on the behalf of the authority
  - - - Use of animals in scientific procedures; cloning
        
        When used for medical purposes, this can be seen to fulfil the primary precept of preserving innocent (human) life, as the scientific research may help us to cure diseases
      - Blood sports
        
        Aquinas did not object to blood sports as he saw it as their purpose to be used by humans as they see fit. However, the Catholic Church argues that 'it is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly,' especially as there are other ways of entertainment not involving the exploitation of animals. However, Aquinas would have argued that there is no such thing as 'exploitation' of animals, seeing as it is the choice of humans to use animals as they see fit for their own benefit
      - Use of animals as food; intensive farming
      - Animals as a source of organs for transplants
        
        Fulfils the primary precept of preserving innocent (human) life, as we may in the future be able to save human life by replacing dysfunctional human organs with functioning animal organs
- - - - Fletcher saw the love for 'actual persons' as more important than love for 'potential persons' and therefore he was not opposed to embryo research, cloning or designer babies if it was used in a loving way, for instance to control a child's sex to avoid a sex-linked disease
    - - Fletcher's approach to abortion is entirely situational. Fletcher refers to a case when a girl in a mental hospital was raped by a fellow patient, and neither wanted to keep the child. Fletcher argues that in this case, to abort the child would be the most loving outcome on the agapeic calculus, because the mother and father are clearly not in the position to look after the child, and it would be mentally distressing for both of them, especially the mother, and they would not be able to give the child a loving life
    - - It is probable that most situation ethicists would agree that euthanasia is permissible when it achieves the most loving outcome, as it will end suffering and pain. However, some situation ethicists might argue that assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia is selfish, because it may badly affect your family and friends and therefore it is not agapeic, as it doesn't follow the idea of 'love thy neighbour.' Each individual case is different and situational, and should be judged by oneself
    - - Situation ethics has no set view on capital punishment, and therefore any situation involving the possibility of capital punishment must be assessed situationally on the agapeic calculus, to assess which action would bring the most love to the greatest amount of people. It is arguable that to kill a criminal means that they are no longer a threat to the innocent people in society, however, this could also be the case if the criminal was simply locked up , and therefore capital punishment may be unneccessarily extreme
  - - - For example, if animals are being used for medical purposes, this may bring the greatest love for the greatest amount of people, so may be deemed permissible
      - Although Fletcher's theory is concerned with people rather than animals, in terms of blood sports, it is arguably unnecessary to use animals in such a barbaric way, particularly as we have other means of entertainment
- - - - It is difficult to know what Aristotle's opinions on issues of embryo research, cloning or designer babies, as during his lifetime such things were futuristic and unimaginable. It is therefore arguable that. virtue ethics is too outdated to tackle such issues, however, some modern virtue ethicists may agree with embryo research, cloning and designer babies, as babies could be made with Aristotle's virtues. However, this would lose the teleogical aspect of Aristotle's virtue ethics as people would not need to follow the process to become virtuous. Virtue ethicists might agree with these ideas as they arguably could promote the virtue of compassion, as they can be used to prevent diseases
    - - Aristotle believed that abortion was permissible 'before sense and life have begun,' so it should take place before there are any signs of an individual human having been established. However, there is much debate on the point at which a foetus becomes an actual person, with some people arguing that it becomes a person birth, or when all its features have developed, or when it's brain has developed, and some argue that it becomes an individual person at the point of conception, in which case it cannot be permissible by Aristotle's virtue ethics, as murder is what Aristotle called a 'base act,' meaning that it can never be morally good because there is no way of committing murder rightly or wrongly, so it is a bad act in itself. However, virtue ethicist Rosalind Hursthouse argues that as we do not know enough about the biological facts to know about the status of a foetus, the decision is up to the woman, as a virtuous woman has the character traits of strength, independence, confidence and responsibility to make her own decision
    - - if a person is in a state where he or she is no longer able to achieve Eudaimonia, then further living would be pointless, and therefore it is arguable that Aristotle's virtue ethics would permit voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, it also could be argued that the person assisting the suicide is committing murder, which is a base act, and therefore can never be permissible as it is intrinsically evil
    - - In Aristotle's day, capital punishment was used commonly as a punishment, so it is probable that he would have accepted it as the norm. Aristotle also held that justice was the ultimate virtue, as it is 'every virtue summed up,' and therefore there is no vice of excess or deficiency, meaning that no sense of justice can be too extreme, meaning that capital punishment is arguably permissible as it promotes justice