Bioethics & Social Ethics

This unit looks at the meaning and moral status of suicide through the eyes of major Western philosophers — Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Augustine, Aquinas, Donne, Hume, and Kant — and then through the lens of five world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, and Christianity.

1.1–1.2 Introduction & Definition

The word suicide comes from the Latin suicidium — sui (self) + cide (kill). It means "an intentional act of self-killing" — a person directly, knowingly, and freely bringing about their own death.

Suicides are of two types:

• Conventional suicide — driven by tradition and public opinion (e.g. sati, the historical practice of a widow immolating herself on her husband's funeral pyre in India).
• Personal suicide — an individual's own choice, not demanded by custom.

1.3 Philosophical Views on Suicide

Plato (427–347 B.C.)

In the Phaedo, Plato has Socrates explain the Pythagorean ban on suicide: life is not ours to dispose of because we are placed here like soldiers at a "guard post" by the gods — we are their possessions. Suicide is a grave offence against the political community and against the wishes of the gods.

Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)

Aristotle supports Plato's condemnation: suicide is an injustice against the political community, whose existence is essential to one's own well-being (Nicomachean Ethics).

The Stoics

Unlike Plato and Aristotle, the Stoics justified suicide. Their materialistic, deterministic philosophy left no room for personal immortality — so ending one's life, when reasonable, was not seen as wrong.

Augustine (354–420)

Augustine builds the "base-line" Christian case against suicide, weaving pagan and scriptural sources together. He treats every suicide as an objective murder. There is no pretext — not even avoiding sin, or preserving virtue — that can justify it.

He does concede a puzzling exception: holy women who threw themselves into rivers to escape violation were honoured by the Church — but only if they acted under some extraordinary divine inspiration, a possibility he treats with great caution.

Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)

Aquinas systematises Augustine's case into three arguments, all still drawing on Aristotle:

Aquinas also rejects sentimental motives for suicide (escaping sorrow, atoning for a crime, or fear of committing a future crime), and denies it can ever be an act of real courage — every suicide, he says, is really a weakening of the will that gives way before life's difficulties.

John Donne (1572–1631)

In Biathanatos, Donne breaks from the Augustine–Aquinas tradition. He argues in three parts — Law of Nature, Law of Reason, Law of God — that:

• Just as some things "naturally" preserve themselves, some people may naturally yearn for death — intention matters more than a blanket rule.
• A hypothetical harm to society is not sufficient reason to call every suicide immoral.
• Scripture never explicitly condemns suicide — only God, who alone knows the heart, can judge its morality (as with martyrdom, or dying for others' welfare).

Donne, however, gives no general license to suicide — he only argues that motive must be examined case by case.

David Hume (1711–1776)

Hume revives a Stoic-like, utilitarian position: when persistent grave misfortune (especially ill health) robs life of enjoyment, death by one's own hand can be a reasonable, welcome alternative. He rejects the idea that suicide "disturbs the order of the universe" or offends God's ownership of our lives — reducing that argument to treating life like mere property.

Immanuel Kant (1729–1804)

Kant uses suicide to illustrate the categorical imperative. A man in despair who wants to end his life "out of self-love" cannot rationally do so — because self-love, by definition, presupposes the actor's continued existence. Destroying oneself would contradict the very basis of the maxim used to justify it.

Kant's conclusion echoes Plato and the Christian tradition, though reached differently: God is our owner; we are his property; suicide violates an obligation to God.

1.4 Religious Views on Suicide

From the religious point of view, suicide has generally been regarded as a crime and a violation of social order.

This unit examines euthanasia ("mercy killing") — its meaning, history, global practice, the argument that it "devalues human life," the case for palliative care and pain management, real case studies that changed doctors' minds, and the philosophical debate around "quality of life."

2.1–2.2 Meaning & History

Euthanasia comes from the Greek eu (good) + thanatos (death). It means the intentional killing, by act or omission, of a person whose life is felt — by themselves or others — not to be worth living.

The unit also links the history of euthanasia to eugenics and Social Darwinism — the idea that "the duty of the strong is to destroy the weak" to assist human progress — and cites the 1939 German experiment in which four cooperative, non-disruptive mental patients were killed with carbon monoxide gas, a "successful" case after which gas chambers were installed in six psychiatric hospitals.

2.3 Euthanasia Around the World

The Holland (Netherlands) Experience

Despite written guidelines requiring that a euthanasia request be "entirely free and voluntary," the unit reports:

• A shift from voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill to euthanasia for the chronically ill, psychiatric patients, and even involuntary euthanasia.
• Patients afraid to be admitted to hospital for fear of being killed; a documented case where a stable cancer patient was euthanised over a weekend simply because a bed was needed.
• Elderly citizens reportedly made to feel it is "their duty to die" so as not to be a financial burden.

UK, USA, Australia

Voluntary Euthanasia Bills reached the British Parliament from 1969. In the US, attempts to legalise direct euthanasia in California, Oregon, and Washington failed; the debate shifted to "physician-assisted suicide." Jack Kevorkian ("Dr Death"), a Michigan pathologist, was convicted of second-degree murder after directly killing a patient with Lou Gehrig's disease, having by his own estimate participated in about 130 deaths.

Euthanasia in India

Euthanasia is not legalised in India, though covert practice occurs; bills in Maharashtra and Kerala have been introduced but not passed. A 1991 survey by statistician Dr Malini Karkal found euthanasia rejected by a large majority across religions:

2.4–2.8 Devaluing Life, Dignity, Pain & Spirit

The unit argues euthanasia is not a purely private decision: helping one person die makes it easier to consider killing the ill, weak, elderly, and unwanted — desensitising family, friends, and healthcare providers, and creating pressure for "population control of the financially unproductive."

This story is used to argue that dignity is internal, not external — it does not depend on bodily control or independence, but on being loved, respected, and cared for until natural death.

Eustress (constructive/positive stress) is proposed as an alternative response — helping patients, families, and physicians transform the stress of suffering into strengthened caring and peace-making, rather than resorting to death as a solution.

2.9 Case Studies — Doctors Who Changed Their Minds

2.10–2.11 Palliative Care & the Quality-of-Life Debate

The unit notes it is "little known" that depression and suicide have little or no place in the lives of the simple and physically impaired — with the highest rates instead found among pop stars and the wealthy, suggesting quality of life is not simply about physical capacity.

On the "quality-of-life" argument (used to justify euthanasia in incurable or severely disabled cases): the unit is critical. A proxy decision-maker's judgment that "no reasonable person would prefer this life to death" is questioned — because someone who has never experienced a particular capacity cannot be assumed to suffer its loss the way someone who once had it would; and because proxies (parents, physicians) may have interests of their own that colour the judgment.

This unit covers the concept and meaning of abortion, its types and methods, medical and psychological risks, the debated link to breast cancer, and the legal framework — including India's Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.

3.2 Concept, Meaning & Types

Abortion comes from Latin ab (off/away) + oriri (to be born) — taking away a life that would otherwise be born. Medically, it is the termination of pregnancy by removal of the fetus/embryo from the uterus.

3.3 Methods of Abortion (Overview)

Methods vary mainly by duration of pregnancy. Early abortion is before the 12th week; late abortion falls between the 12th and 20th week.

• Manual Vacuum Aspiration — used up to about 7 weeks; the embryo is suctioned out through a thin tube.
• Suction Curettage — the most common surgical method; the cervix is opened and a suction machine and/or curette remove the fetus.
• Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) — used in the second trimester; the cervix is opened wider and forceps are used.
• Dilation and Extraction (D&X) — a multi-day procedure for later pregnancies.
• RU486 / Mifepristone (the "abortion pill") — used up to the 49th day after the last menstrual period; not effective for ectopic pregnancy.
• Salt Poisoning — a strong saline solution injected into the amniotic sac; historically developed in Nazi concentration camps.
• Hysterotomy — an "early caesarean," used late in pregnancy.
• Unsafe/self-induced methods — misuse of misoprostol, or insertion of implements such as knitting needles — associated with serious complications where legal, safe abortion is unavailable.

3.4 Risks Involved in Abortion

The unit reports a study finding psychiatric admission after suicide attempts to be three times more likely for women following induced abortion compared to those who carried a pregnancy to term.

3.5 The Abortion–Breast Cancer (ABC) Link

The unit presents the argument (from Angela Lanfranchi's work) that breast tissue matures fully only through a full-term (40-week) pregnancy. If abortion interrupts this before full maturation, a woman is left with a greater proportion of immature Type 1 and Type 2 breast lobules — the type from which most (ductal) breast cancers are said to arise.

3.6 Legalising Abortion — India's MTP Act, 1971

The Soviet Union was the first country to legalise abortion (1920, under Lenin). India's Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 permits abortion up to 20 weeks without spousal consent, under five grounds:

• Only a registered medical practitioner experienced in gynaecology/obstetrics may perform an abortion where pregnancy is under 12 weeks.
• Abortion may only be performed at a government-approved hospital or licensed facility (non-governmental institutions may obtain a license from the Chief Medical Officer).
• Written guardian consent is required for women under 18, and for those with a mental illness even if over 18.

Issues Associated with Legal Abortion

This unit surveys the nature, kinds, and causes of violence that threaten life across society — from domestic and gender violence to gang, political, religious, and terrorist violence — and proposes practical ways to reduce it.

4.2 Nature of Violence

The word violence comes from Latin violentia, rooted in vis ("force"). It denotes great or excessive force, or constraint. Violence is, first, the exercise of physical force to damage persons or property — but more importantly, the forcible interference with personal freedom.

4.3 Kinds of Violence

4.4 Causes of Violence

The unit traces violence to a wide web of interconnected causes:

4.5 Proposals to Overcome Violence

This unit reviews terrorism's origin and definition, historical evolution, causes, consequences, and its relationship to social ethics — closing with Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence as a moral response.

5.2 Origin & Definition

The term comes from the French terrorisme, based on a Latin verb referring to violence or the threat of imminent violence. British statesman Edmund Burke first used the concept in the context of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, when terror was seen as a tool of dictatorship and a symbol of power.

Common methods: hostage-taking, hijacking, political assassination, kidnapping, bombing, and explosions. Objectives include publicising a cause, mobilising sympathisers, eliminating opponents, demonstrating government weakness, and instilling fear.

5.3 History of Terrorism

• Ancient World: The Zealots (Sicarii, "dagger-men") resisted Roman rule in Judaea — considered the first recorded terrorist movement.
• Middle Ages: The French Revolution's Committee of Public Safety killed over 17,000 people; its agents were the first to be called "Terrorists" — the origin of the word.
• Modern Era (19th century): Anarchists in Europe/Russia assassinated kings, presidents, and prime ministers, believing this was the fastest route to political change.
• Contemporary Era: A shift from targeting powerful figures to targeting innocent civilians — examples cited include the Tamil Tigers, Sikh/Kashmiri militancy in India, Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the IRA. Today's terrorists are described as "techno-savvy," using chemical, biological, nuclear, and modern communication tools.

5.4 Causes of Terrorism

5.5 Consequences of Terrorism

Political terrorism is described as "the result of a conscious decision by ideologically inspired groups to strike back at what their members may perceive as unjust." The 9/11 attacks (2001) are cited as an example of economic consequences rippling through the global economy.

5.6 Terrorism and Social Ethics

The unit distinguishes two major ethical traditions relevant here:

Mahatma Gandhi and Non-Violence

The unit presents Gandhi as the most significant universal pacifist of the twentieth century, who led a largely bloodless freedom struggle grounded in truth and non-violence — Sarvodaya ("welfare of all").