Questions

Part–1

Americans are living longer than ever before, living with chronic pain and suffering that might not, at least for some, make that life worth living. The example of Admiral Nimitz and his wife, for example, is one of two people of sound mind choosing to end their lives.

Can suicide be morally justified in such circumstances, or do people have an obligation to continue living? Defend your position. If you believe people have an obligation to continue living, where does it come from? To whom is that obligation owed? If you believe that suffering justifies suicide in old age, what other contexts are there in which you think suicide is morally justifiable?

Part–2

1. Views on Suicide
What is your moral position on the issue of suicide? How would you justify this stance?
2. Justification of Taking a Human Life
Analyze if taking of human life for self-defense is justifiable. Give reasons for your answer.
3. Terrorism
What is terrorism, and how does it differ from other kinds of war?
4. Moral Justification of Terrorism
Is terrorism morally justified? Defend your position.
5. Alternative for Capital Punishment
What, in your opinion, would constitute a just alternative punishment to capital punishment and why?
6. Self-Defense
What are your views on permits that allow fellow citizens carrying firearms for self-defense? Give reasons for your stance.
7. Difference between Mercy Killing and Mercy Death
Discuss if mercy death is significantly different from mercy killing. Or, in certain situations is mercy killing morally preferable? Give reasons for your answer.
8. Moral Justifications for Mercy Killing
Is mercy killing morally justified in all or only under circumstances? Give reasons for your answer.
9. Allowing Someone to Die on Basis of Moral Ethics
Analyze one of the issues dealing with allowing someone to die utilizing one of the major ethical theories. Evaluate the same issue according to a different moral theory. Did you reach the same conclusions?
Explain your answer.
10. Situations That Forced You to Look at Mercy Killing
Why have dramatic advances in medicine forced us to take an increasingly harder look at allowing someone to die, mercy death, and mercy killing? Substantiate your answer with specific examples.
11. Karen Ann Quinlan Case
After Karen Ann Quinlan was taken off life-support, she lived for 10 years in a persistent vegetative state. Do you think the court would have made the same decision had they known the result? How will this judgment affect the judgment of similar cases in the future?
12. Physicians Helping Patients Die
Should physicians assist patients with suicide? Give reasons for your answer.