Euthanasia OCR Religious Studies Lockdown Special!

[@lornagrace3567]

Your videos have helped me so much - thank you - just rewatching for last minute ethics revision!

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

So pleased I can help Lorna ☺️good luck in your exam tomorrow!

[@lornagrace3567]

@@IThinkThereforeITeach Thank you so much!

[@reiayanami6290]

Thank you so much for all your videos!! Fingers crossed for tomorrow

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

You are very welcome ☺️ I hope all goes well tomorrow!!

[@reigen4030]

These videos have been helping me with my revision 🫶I have my exams in June and feel almost ready for them

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

I am really pleased my videos are helping :) I hope your revision continues to go well 🙂

[@danieldove9466]

Hi, great video. I just have a quick question. How many case studies would you advise that i need too know for my coming exam?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Daniel, I think two would be enough that show differing approaches to euthanasia e.g one that supports it and one that doesn't. The baby cases are interesting as our law is very against euthanasia yet parents who want to try save their children are not allowed and thus the child dies - which is not active euthanasia but passive but questions why we have euthanasia to promote sanctity of life when it doesn't apply in these cases - hope that makes sense :)

[@williambrook8510]

Last-minute revision. Life saver, thank you.

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Good luck in your exam Will :)

[@ctrf-w1g]

quick question would i be able to do a synoptic link to Augustine’s hierarchy of beings? Since humans have more God within us taking away human life would be inherently wrong as we wouldn’t be achieving our telos of being more like God?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

That would be very clever Clara and add a very nice synoptic link :)

[@chloew968]

How can you discuss the layers and not then have a descriptive essay? Surely it would be hard to retain a line of argument? Thanks :)

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Thanks for your question Chloe - I am not sure what you are referring to when you say the layers?

[@chloew968]

@@IThinkThereforeITeach​​⁠Kind of like the different sides to it? So, for example, if I was arguing that NL was a helpful approach to take to Euthanasia how could I maintain that line of argument whilst acknowledging that it might allow for use of a life support machine but also might not?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

@chloew968 you can contradict your points as you are arguing the different ways the approach can be applied and your line of argument just says whether it can be applied effectively or not. You are not arguing whether NL is right or wrong just whether it can be applied to etluthanasia. Hope that makes sense :)

[@muskaaniftikhar9764]

this video was great thank you. i felt as if i was in a classroom with you

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Thanks, really good to hear! :)

[@Zahra-iq8bd]

Hi Aimee - quick question for tomorrow: if there is a question abt evaluating euthanasia, could i apply utilitarianism and kant as well as natural law and situation ethics and would it be beneficial?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

I wouldn't as the spec specifically wants NL and SE, otherwise you risk not going into depth as if the Q specifically asks for euthanasia you don't even have to apply normative theories so if you do mention them as part of your line of argument and evaluation, I would only use the ones linked in the spec. That is just my approach though :)

[@caitlinleigh7121]

also your videos saved me for the philopshy paper so thank you so much!!!

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

You are very welcome Caitlin, I am pleased my videos helped :)

[@eviebeeswax1307]

how could link natural law allowing euthanasia because of burdonsome treatment to a precept? or can you not? thank you

[@eviebeeswax1307]

Also could you argue that we reason to euthanasia being the best option? or is that not valid? Thank you!

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Not sure you can directly link to precepts but often burdensome treatments are immense medical interventions by human hand, so the individual is not expected to undertake this even though it goes against the first precept :)

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

If you link to reason then it is a good argument to explore but then counter it with the precepts or divine law. Your aim is to discuss all the different ways the argument could be applied and thus whether the approach is useful/helpful or not :)

[@caitlinleigh7121]

so if Natural Moral law is supporting passive euthanasia isn't that considered intervention? would you evaluate this in an essay using acts v omissions?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Caitlin, passive euthanasia is like medical non intervention so NL supports as we are not interfering with the natural process of death with medical interventions even though that goes against the 1st PP but then that's what you would discuss in an answer. You could bring in acts vs omissions as passive euthanasia could be linked to the omissions argument. Hope that makes sense :)

[@coragane5127]

Hi, i know this is 2 years late, but im a year 12 studying RS for OCR and i was wondering if you could go over situation ethics/natural law with Euthanasia in application to a question 'useful' / 'not useful' questions. With regard to what Joseph Fletcher thinks etc.

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Thank you for your comment. There are quite a few support materials on the blog for writing application essays plus links to videos demonstrating NL and Euthansia answers (which can be found on the blog membership). However I will make a note to do a future video on SE with euthanasia :)

[@hmr8783]

Hi! If an exam question on euthanasia does not ask about an ethical theory but instead asks about concepts like the sanctity of life is it fine to still link in natural law and situation ethics in the answer, such as 'a distinction can be made between situation ethics and those in favour of the quality of life'? If so how much of the essay would you recommend talking about the ethical theories or would it just be best to keep it short?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Brilliant question. My advice to students would be start every paragraph focused on the question e.g SL or QoL, make sure your line of argument is focused specifically on the question and then you can bring in either or both arguments as part of your argument. I would make sure you keep your points brief and specific to euthanasia and your argument so avoid lots of description and I wouldn't necessarily focus a whole paragraph on the topics as it might draw attention off the question. Hope this helps :)

[@mollyhuntt]

For Fletcher's positive human criteria, does he believe that all 12 are needed to be classed as a human person or just a certain amount? :)

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Milly my understanding is that the criteria helps distinguish personhood, so the more you have the more you can be seen as a person. Hence why he believed down syndrome babies could be euthanized. Hope this helps :)

[@ade6609]

Thank you so much for this video, this is very helpful. I have a question please. Under the Euthanasia topic on the specification, there is a bullet point that says ' whether or not the religious concept of sancity of life has any meaning in twenty-first century medical ethics. My question is, is it possible to get a question say ' Asses the view that religious concept of sancity of life has no meaning in twenty-first century medical ethics'. If yes, is this question really an Euthanasia question because then the question does not really say Euthanasia, it says medical ethics. I am just a little bit confused. Can you please explain this. Thank you very much in advance

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Adeola, great question. If you did get one like this and it is quite possible, you must stick with euthanasia as your medical ethics (this is what the exam board would be expecting) and link to the religious elements of NL and SE. Hope this helps :)

[@ade6609]

@@IThinkThereforeITeach Thank you so much for your reply. It does make sense now. Many thanks

[@ellierimicans4399]

thank you for this video, in regards to strong and weak sanctity of life, can you use them as counter arguments for each other within a paragraph or it is better to counter them with different arguments?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Ellie, I'm pleased my video helps. Either or would be great, I think if question on SOL I would even do both, a deep exploration of the ideas would work well in an essay. Hope this helps :)

[@remysanders9030]

hello aimee, on the Euthanasia topic on the specification, there is a bullet point that says - whether or not there is a moral difference between medical intervention to end a patient’s life and medical non-intervention to end a patient’s life - I'm a bit confused about how i would structure this essay could you help? thanks in advance

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Remy, yes it is a trickier one. So medical intervention could be seen as active euthanasia whereas medical non intervention could be seen as passive. So you would apply NL and/ SE to which approach is better linking to case studies and SOL and QOL. Does that make sense? :)

[@nufcmax__2653]

@@IThinkThereforeITeach so could natural law be used to support passive euthanasia and reject active as it is not preserving life? thanks

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

NL supports passive to an extent as it means we are not intervening but then still doesn't support the 1st pp so that is part of your discussion. Also the Pope's points about ordinary and extraordinary works well here :)

[@remysanders9030]

@@IThinkThereforeITeach thank you aimee

[@ade6609]

Hi again Ms, please I will like to find out. Does withdrawal of treatment count as medical intervention or non medical intervention?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Brilliant question Adeola. I would class it as medical intervention because the intervention was there they are just withdrawing it. Non medical intervention would be the patient afterwards once they are no longer on medication. So I guess you could link to both actually.

[@amber__1]

When writing an essay about Natural Law or Situation Ethics in response to euthanasia, is it the same structure as when you write a response to sexual ethics? And do you just go straight into the essay applying it to the theory or should you talk about, for example, sanctity of life on it’s own for a bit? (Sorry long question)

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Totally depends on the Q. If the theory is specified in the Q e.g NL and sex ethics then that is your focus throughout. You can link other theories in as part of your evaluation which often works well but not necessary. If you get a general question on euthanasia for example e.g one of SOL, sol is your structure and you can link in your theories are part of exploring that theme. If you get a Q on NL and Euthanasia then NL is your focus but it is important to still bring in your themes of SOL, QOL etc :)

[@simranp736]

do you have predictions for the paper on Tuesday?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Simran, I will do my predictions on Monday and post on the blog :)

[@remysanders9030]

@@IThinkThereforeITeach could you do the predictions today (asap) so we have time to revise your predicitions, thank you so much aimee

[@heatherfawcett8192]

for the sanctity of life, the imago dei point, could you link in Augustine’s hierarchy of being? also thanks for these videos they are great for revision!

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

That would be an excellent synoptic link!! Really pleased my videos are helping :)

[@jeffsad9650]

What is the hierarchy of being and how do u make the link to SofL?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

@jeffsad9650 it is on the Problem of Evil ppt so could be used as a synoptic link :)

[@ellamcnamara8100]

thankyou so much for this! would you always apply NL or SE to a euthanasia essay or only when the question specifies it?

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hi Ella, it is not necessary to add NL and/or SE if the question just on euthanasia e.g sanctity of life is more important than quality of life...however to discuss these areas more fully you might wish to bring in NL/SE to help extend your answer/discussion :)

[@runax.]

Argument of proportionality James Rachel’s having a legal dose proportionally is quickly but starving is long (ignore )

[@runax.]

Person hood :- what separates human being from a person I.e if someone in comin are they a person or a they a body of a person who use to live or dead

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Hope your exam goes well tomorrow :)

[@runax.]

@@IThinkThereforeITeachthank you so much

[@ctrf-w1g]

i find Fletcher very hypocritical in his beliefs! Proponing love as the central maxim but defining personhood with those criteria’s is soooo demeaning and definitely not love focused

[@IThinkThereforeITeach]

Very good observation Clara that you can explore with the right Q :)