 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
And what should we have to think of a God who shared Lord Fitzalan’s sentiments? Is it really credible that a wise, omnipotent, and beneficent Being finds so much pleasure in watching the slow agonies of an innocent person that He will be angry with those who shorten the ordeal? The House of Lords, encouraged by the late Archbishop of Canterbury, apparently took this view, though two medical Peers endeavoured to soften its cruelty by saying that, even with the law as it is, doctors do often shorten life in such cases in spite of the fact that in doing so they become legally liable to be hanged. This contention might have been put, more briefly than they put it, in the simple words: “hypocrisy at all costs”.
Source：Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, (1954), chapter 12：Superstitious Ethics, n.4
More info.: https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-1204.htm
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This is the part where Russell discusses "euthanasia".
Due to advances in medicine, it is now possible to save lives from diseases that were previously thought to lead to death. However, of course, there are still many diseases that are considered incurable, and even if a disease can be treated only at one medical institution in the world, if there are many patients, it will have to be treated as a practically incurable disease.
Russell is discussing the issue of "euthanasia" for patients who are suffering from severe pain due to a disease that cannot be cured even with the most advanced medical treatment of the time.
By the way, ChatGPT misinterpreted and misread "They" in "This contention might have been put, more briefly than they put it, in the simple words: "hypocrisy at all costs"" as "they (two medical aristocrats)". It is very important who "They" refers to. ChatGPT asked ChatGPT, "Why did you misread such an important and basic thing?" ChatGPT replied as follows.
"As you pointed out, who "They" refers to is extremely important in accurately understanding the meaning of the sentence. Regarding this misreading, I made an incorrect comment because I did not fully understand the context. I apologize for the inconvenience this mistake has caused. Overlooking the fact that "They" refers to "senators" and not "two medical aristocrats" was a serious error in understanding the context. In the future, I will make an effort to check the context more carefully and provide an accurate interpretation to avoid such misunderstandings. Thank you for pointing this out.
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