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Historical Analogies, Slippery Slopes, and the Question of Euthanasia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Extract

The German Nazi regime has become a standard model for unspeakable things that one should reject. Contemporary people will characterize political opponents, benighted policies, and other undesirable things as “fascist” or “Nazi.” In ethics, and medical ethics in particular, this analogy arises regularly. Therefore, it is not surprising that German people are particularly sensitive about their history. For example, the German high court regularly refers to the Nazi era in its reluctance to accept lethal social activities. This sensitivity surfaced again in 1988, when influential applied ethicist Peter Singer accepted a German invitation to speak to a Symposium on “Bioengineering, Ethics, and Mental Disability.” Singer had also agreed to deliver a separate lecture on the topic “Do severely disabled newborn infants have a right to life?”

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Article
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Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2000

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References

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Walton cites examples from Govier, distinguishing Simple Dangerous Precedent Slippery Slope Arguments and Feasibility Precedent Slippery Slope Arguments. The former depend on the idea that a, which is acceptable in itself, shares a feature with other non-acceptable cases and so must be disallowed. The latter depend on the idea that although a is acceptable by itself, allowing all relevantly similar cases is unacceptable or impossible, so that a ought not to be allowed. He also adds two other forms. First is the argument from added authority (that allowing a grants the decision maker additional authority which creates bad results). The other is the “arbitrary results” argument (that allowing a creates a further series of unclear or arbitrary decisions about what to include).Google Scholar
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The other modern example is the State of Oregon, which permits physicians to prescribe lethal drug doses under certain conditions. This law has been in place a very short time, and the results there are inconclusive. However, advocates point to the small number of such prescriptions written since the law was enacted and the fact that 1/3 of them have gone unused. They fail to mention that Oregon is also the only State in the Union that will not pay for antiviral drug treatment for AIDS patients. Apparently, the two year median survival rate of these patients is not worth it.Google Scholar
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