Of the remaining criteria we might consider, only sentience―the capacity of a being to experience things like pleasure and pain―is a plausible criterion of moral importance. Singer argues for this in two ways. First, he argues, by example, that the other criteria are bad, because (again) they will exclude people who we think ought not be excluded. For instance, we don't really think that it would be permissible to disregard the well-being of someone who has much lower intelligence than average, so we can't possibly think that intelligence is a suitable criterion for moral consideration. Second, he argues that it is only by virtue of something being sentient that it can be said to have interests at all, so this places sentience in a different category than the other criteria: "The capacity for suffering and enjoying things is a prerequisite for having interests at all, a condition that must be satisfied before we can speak of interests in any meaningful way" (175).
These side effects may affect one person but not another. This would be hard to study as you can not say it is exactly one thing, and then you would have to look at the extraneous variables which affect each problem. However, this could also be good as it is not really being reductionist in its own approach; it is looking at all the possible individual differences. If choosing a different approach, like cognitive, then it would still be difficult because you do not know what the person is thinking. You would have to rely on the patient giving you the information for it not is socially desirable or have demand characteristics.
(Yalom 1980) Existential therapy operates on the belief that inner conflict within a person is due to that individual's perception and fear of the very process of existing and of the inevitability of death . The existential therapist will not attempt to provide answers to clients but rather to allow them to accept the way things are, It is about accepting all given situations, good or bad, for what they are and just letting it be. It does not suggest change, but aims to allow the client to accept what is. Cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to solve problems concerning negative emotions and behaviours through a goal-focused, systematic procedures, tasks and discussions. It is about change.
In the hard determinist’s judgement, this feeling of freedom is an illusion. (Pereboom, 2009:324). Another argument against hard determinism would be if it were true we could not be accounted for when it comes to our actions, therefore we could do a morally wrong act and if it was determined then we would could not to blame, we did not have the free will to do that act it was determined to be done anyway. Also if we do a morally good act should we be praised for this? Hard determinists would say that it was not our free will that chose us to do this good act we were determined to do it anyway.
Psychological theories are best defined as statements about the principles underlying human behaviour, but these statements are not testable. Psychological
Thomas Nagel’s “Moral Luck” Nagel begins his argument by explaining the problem with moral judgment upon individuals is that it does not take into consideration the actions that are not within one’s control, or is not their fault. That when we place the moral judgment upon a person as an object, independent of the external forces involved, and whether the outcome is good or bad, this would be considered ‘moral luck’. This brings in to question the validity of any moral judgment, because the more one looks into the given situation and what factors were outside the control of the person being judged, the more one sees that any moral responsibility is diminished. And with this statement, the addition that even our system of belief that we use to make these moral judgments is also largely based upon things, internal and external, that are beyond our control. Nagel’s basic thesis of this issue
It appears that the truth varies depending on the system that is employed. For the psychoanalyst the only truth stems from the unconscious and is not indicative of evident behaviour. While for the behaviourist, evident behaviour is the truth and the mind should not be used to assess what is true in regards to a client’s
However, in the process of experience, human cannot feel the “feeling” using the concepts of that “feeling”, which is named Qualia. For example, although someone has learnt all the theories he should know to generate the sense of pain, he can’t predict the result when the sense of pain really happens. Therefore, Qualia cannot be simply identified by physical knowledge, because it is subjective, and will change with environment’s change. In order to make the argument more convictive, Frank Jackson designed an experiment to explain that Qualia is nonphysical, and
Physician assisted suicide should not be legalized for the simple fact many would give up and take the easy way out. There is currently a pervasive assumption that if assisted suicide and/or voluntary euthanasia (AS/VE) were to legalized, then doctors would take responsibility for making the decision that these interventions were indicated, for prescribing the medication, and (in euthanasia) for administering it .Richard Huxable remarks “that homicide law encompasses various crimes, so prosecutors can choose charges to suit the circumstances. Yet one thing is clear: mercy killing is still killing, equally, murder is murder” Physician assisted suicide is nothing more than cold blooded
If these needs are not satisfied right away, then the result is a state of tension and anxiety. In reality, immediately satisfying our needs or wants is not even possible. If we were ruled by the pleasure principle, we would find ourselves doing things we might not normally do just to satisfy our own wants which could be disruptive and unacceptable. In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, the primary process works to resolve the tension that is created by the pleasure principle. The primary process acts as the id’s defense mechanism discharging any tension created by the pleasure principle.