Page 26 - Community Living Magazine 34-3

ethics

British Medical Association stated in its disabilities – or “defectives” – as less
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guidance on ethical issues published than full humans who are incapable of
shortly after the pandemic began that the true happiness.
aim of the medical profession throughout In the utilitarian world, where only
the crisis would be “delivering the happiness (or satisfaction or
greatest medical benefit to the greatest improvement) of as many people as
number of people”. This is a deeply possible matters, this effectively makes
utilitarian statement. you a non-person.
Of course, in medicine there are many John Stuart Mill, the leading utilitarian
terrible dilemmas, and no one would deny of the 19th century, famously argued that
that there has to be some sort of “it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied
framework to assist medical practitioners than a fool satisfied”. In other words,
in such difficult decisions. “fools” did not experience genuine
Most people would probably agree that satisfaction or happiness like intelligent
if you must make a choice between saving people – just mindless pleasure in the
an elderly person with a terminal illness stimulation of their senses. Peter Singer, who supports euthanasia of
and a younger person who is not Mill was an advocate of the asylum for severely disabled newborns, has taught ethics
terminally ill, then you would choose to the “idiots” of his time. People who could to healthcare professionals
save the younger person. not be properly be made happy or
Although utilitarianism can appear cold improved through education did not really More disturbingly, in a recent article in
in its rationality, it can be argued that belong in society and were a drag on the Prospect magazine, he boasted: “I taught
coldness and logic in decision making can happiness of the majority. intensive bio-ethics courses for healthcare
be better than raw emotion – do we want professionals, including intensive care unit
a situation where we save people we like Persistent prejudice directors and many senior people.”
and sacrifice people we don’t? Such thinking persists today, in its most It is difficult to contemplate what might
extreme form in the modern utilitarian have been taught about people with
philosopher Peter Singer. Singer is a learning disabilities in such courses.
leading advocate of animal rights who Singer is just one more extremist in a
argues that we should not accord greater line of intellectuals and distinguished
privileges to the human species than we medical practitioners who have waged
accord to non-human species. He calls the war over the years against people with
practice of human dominance over other learning disabilities (see “The persistent
species – killing animals for food and stupidity of intellectuals”, pages 12-13).
clothing, keeping them in farms and zoos Nevertheless, he is the very visible crest
– “speciesism”. of a profound wave of thought that
To support this idea, he argues that dehumanises people with learning
what he calls “retarded infants” have disabilities, values them less than other
lower abilities and are less capable of types of human and sees their lives as
happiness than many non-human animals. a tragedy and a burden, best relieved
He calls such infants “human vegetables” by death.
and argues that: It is this thinking that sadly, in more
subtle forms, stalks the wards of our
“Adult chimpanzees, dogs, pigs, and hospitals and the minds of many who
members of many other species far work in medicine.
surpass the brain damaged infant in This is not just idle thinking – it results
their ability to relate to others, act in needless DNR notices, Down syndrome
independently, be self-aware, and any foetuses being aborted at term, people
Medically inspired moves to eradicate people other capacity that could reasonably be missing out on vaccinations and people
with learning disabilities included eugenics said to give value to life. With the most being fed through hatches in solitary
intensive care possible, some severely confinement in assessment and
Yet there are deep flaws underpinning retarded infants can never achieve the treatment units.
this type of thinking, which contribute to intelligence level of a dog.” (Animal We know that, despite all this, there are
our unease when we are confronted with Liberation, 1975: 18) many good people who work in the
utilitarian solutions. These flaws lie not so healthcare professions – doctors, nurses,
much in the logic of its solutions, which is Singer calls for the active euthanasia of psychiatrists and many more – who do
usually impeccable and difficult to argue such infants, and has written extensively not sign up to these assumptions, and
with. They lie in the assumptions from throughout his academic career in who place value on the lives of people
which the logic flows – and this is where support of euthanasia against those he with learning disabilities. Wellcome Collection; Travis Sage/Wikimedia Commons
the dangers to people with learning calls the “retarded”. It is time for them to come together, to
disabilities from this sort of medical Although controversial in the disability join forces inside and outside their
decision making are located. world, he remains highly regarded in professions, to challenge this
From its outset, utilitarianism and its the world of philosophy and is dehumanisation and oust it from
practitioners in the world of medicine still considered a guru of the animal medicine once and for all. The greatest
have regarded people with learning liberation movement. happiness must belong to us all. n

26 Vol 34 No 3 | Spring 2021 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk