Euthanasia and letting die.

摘要

In the review by Finlay et al. of evidence presented to a Parliamentary Committee in the UK that deals with a new bill on assisted dying it is observed that, "Although to philosophers the common end point of death removes a distinction between acts of omission and commission, to clinicians there are clear distinctions when making these types of decisions".1 Since it makes little sense to say that the distinction here somehow disappears or loses its meaning altogether (cf. "removes"), I take it that what the authors mean to say is that the distinction is not thought to be ethically relevant. Before the committee, professor of philosophy and euthanasia advocate Simon Blackburn said that, "Some much respected philosophers have denied that this distinction carries any moral weight at all... I disagree".