ABSTRACT
Theories have in common the appeal to rules or generalizations. The idea is simple. Once people have a rule, they can use it to determine what they should do in a situation. Moral theories that focus on the consequences of actions, called consequentialist theories, use a rule something like “Always do that action that leads to the maximization of the good.” Moral theories that reject the assessment of consequences and emphasize acting from duty as the only moral course are called deontological theories. Euthanasia has come to mean the actions taken or not taken that hasten a patient’s death. In clear cases of action taken, the euthanasia is classified as active. Euthanasia differs from the usual account of suicide in that the people who contemplate euthanasia, although desperate, have very good reason to be desperate. They are patients whose lives are miserable and for whom no end to the misery—except death— is in sight.
