1. What is the principle of double effect, as described by Lonnie Bristow? Kenneth Cauthen claims that doctors often prescribe heavy doses of morphine in order to hasten the death of suffering patients, and then use the principle of double effect to protect themselves from legal persecution. Do you agree with the American Medical Association’s assertion that the distinction between relieving pain and intending death is important in such cases, or do you agree with Cauthen’s conclusion that society should accept “what is really going on”?
2. Leon Kass and Nelson Lund place great importance on the Hippocratic Oath, while Derek Humphry and Mary Clement believe its prohibition on physician-assisted suicide is a poor reason for opposing the practice. Do you believe, as Lund and Kass do, that a taboo on intentional killing is essential to the ethical practice of medicine, or...