Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal For Terminally Ill Patients to Engage In?
Critical Analysis Essay
The use of physician-assisted suicide in order to relieve dire pain and suffering has been a highly controversial practice that comes with a long history. In his award-winning documentary film, How to Die in Oregon, Peter D. Richardson examines the issue first handily, targeting the "Death with Dignity Act" which had been passed in the State of Oregon during 1994. The Act specifically permits terminally ill patients to end their own life with medication prescribed by their physician. Although Richardson may be correct in that physician-assisted suicide should be legal for terminally ill patients to engage in, his dependency on anecdotal knowledge inevitably evokes illogical argumentation, leading to a severely weak claim. Due to both social and Illegitimate biases as well as being guilty of committing both the "Fallacy of Semantic Ambiguity" and "Fallacious Appeal to Pity", I show how the involvement of Dr.
The western front of the United States Capitol. Th...
English: Dr. Jack Kevorkian, best known for his ad...
English: Dr. Kevorkian, known advocate for assiste...Katherine Morris, Nancy Niedzielski, and Derek Humphry, within the documentary film, How to Die in Oregon, ultimately reduce the overall effectiveness of Richardson's main argument.
This section contains a "Multi-Modal Argumentation" analysis of the award-winning documentary film, How to Die in Oregon. It is evident that both, "The Emotional Mode" and "The Logical Mode" are utilized within the documentary film. Concentrating on "The Emotional Mode", when assessing the effectiveness of Richardson's supporting arguments, it is evident that they are significantly effective. By focusing heavily on the personal experiences and observations of individuals specifically impacted by Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act", Richardson is successfully able to capture the raw emotion required to deliver a strong and persuasive main argument. Moreover, concentrating on "The Logical Mode", when analyzing the acceptability, relevancy, and sufficiency of Richardson's supporting arguments it is evident...