DUE: at class time - Tuesday, November 5

POINTS: up to 12 points

PENALTY for late papers: 4 points automatic deduction

No papers accepted after Tuesday, November 12 (classtime)

Your paper should be 5-7 pages (typed, double-spaced) or 1000-1500 words. You also may submit this as an attachment to an e-mail message, but please send it early so we can verify whether it came through. You may also fax your paper to the Department fax (985-7135).

Discuss the decision, Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington (No. 94-35534) (9^th Circuit) (March 6, 1996), from the perspective of one (and only one) of the following essays/decisions studied in class:

Question I. "The Sin of Suicide," Thomas Aquinas

Question II. "Essay on Suicide," David Hume

Question III. Matter of Quinlan

Question IV. Cruzan v. Harmon

Use the articles/excerpts on our class syllabus, along with our class discussion of the article/excerpt. Please do not do any additional research. You should put yourself "in the shoes" of the article/decision you choose and assess the decision, Compassion in Dying. Consider the content, reasoning, methodologies, and conclusions of the philosophers/judges in question.

Following are examples of the kinds of issues to consider in your analysis. (The exact issues you consider will depend on which article/excerpt you are using to consider Compassion in Dying.)

• Are appeals to authority included in their reasoning? what authorities? How are they used in the analysis?
• What is the role of religious belief in their analysis?
• What is the role of public opinion or majority consensus?
• What role does "consent" play in their analysis? What is it? How do they assess it?
• Are competing interests appropriately balanced in making the decision to terminate a life? What interests should be balanced? How should they be balanced?
• Do they consider a role for "state interests"? What are those interests? What role do they play in the reasoning?
• Do they use "reasoning by analogy"? Give some examples of this type of reasoning.
• How do they handle the definition of key terminology? How do they arrive at their definitions? What importance do they place on clear definition of key concepts in the development of their argument?
  

Please cite quotations or paraphrases by giving the section number and/or paragraph number as available in the on-line texts. You may provide this in parentheses in the text of your paper, rather than traditional footnotes.