Is it morally ethical for me to refrain from cancer treatments?: Philosophy Forums

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Is it morally ethical for me to refrain from cancer treatments?

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Is it morally ethical for me to refrain from cancer treatments?

~vince~
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Posted 05/31/09 - 04:34 PM:	#71
TheThoughtfulOne wrote: I'd read your book, I'm sure it would be a good read. Perhaps I'll have to start documenting my personal experiences again. I once put my life history to storyboard format. This was done with about 300 picture panels in stick figure form with captions. That was about ten years ago. Maybe I should try it again to build a framework. It also included the various key people in my life for good or bad.
~vince~ Don't confuse me with the facts.

ParvusRex
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Posted 05/31/09 - 06:11 PM:	#72
I think your book is sorely needed. Utilitarianism is pretty rampant these days and your ideas seem to me to be a striking example of humanism at its finest.
Cogitor ergo non sum

TheThoughtfulOne
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Posted 05/31/09 - 06:22 PM:	#73
~vince~ wrote: Perhaps I'll have to start documenting my personal experiences again. I once put my life history to storyboard format. This was done with about 300 picture panels in stick figure form with captions. That was about ten years ago. Maybe I should try it again to build a framework. It also included the various key people in my life for good or bad. I await it, do tell us when it is finished! I'm looking forward to it, and I'm sure everyone else here is as well. Good luck!
I am what I am, but what am I? - Me

paleorchid13
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Posted 05/31/09 - 11:52 PM:	#74
First off, I empathize with you, I myself found myself in the same predicament as you a few years back only my choice was to live through it for my daughters sake. All that maudlinness aside, the question of your choice seems obviously just for it is your right to do so. The morality seems to be justifiable as well, because you've stated that you prefer quality over quantity and choose not to suffer through painful procedures that may indeed offer only more harm. I think this raises many fundamental moral questions. Earlier in the thread the idea of suicide came up. Even though such an assumption in this case is Reductio ad absurdum because of its implication to favor one type of medicine over another and at what cost one should cheat or prolong life. In saying that are we not independently thinking rational adults that are capable of choosing when, and how we die? At what cost are we supposed to continue our existence? Furthermore, all arguments seem to point to, that we should have no choice over our death, only to feverishly cling to life no matter the pathetic nature. Naturalism is a weak argument however and yet has run thick through this thread. No one wants to see anyone else die or watch someone choose to die while we stand aside powerless and watch, that is our nature. But just because we may lament does not deduce the moral situation at hand. The op seems to want his decision to be challenged, and in essence the op has already challenged himself in the most incredible ways, and that is to start living instead of existing through a mediocre existence, from what I gather. He sees life in a whole new way. Quite a daring and provocative stance, yet feverishly exciting. All the expected casualties of telling you how much you should live I leave only with this prayer. That you will keep this dashing excellence of defiance and freedom and live to see an entire different you living out your dreams. Blessings. Edited by Caldwell on 06/01/09 - 12:27 AM. Reason: caps and spelling.

~vince~
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Posted 06/04/09 - 06:02 PM:	#75
ParvusRex wrote: I think your book is sorely needed. Utilitarianism is pretty rampant these days and your ideas seem to me to be a striking example of humanism at its finest. Thank you. I'm probably a bit humanistic.
~vince~ Don't confuse me with the facts.

~vince~
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Posted 06/04/09 - 06:03 PM:	#76
TheThoughtfulOne wrote: I await it, do tell us when it is finished! I'm looking forward to it, and I'm sure everyone else here is as well. Good luck! Thanks. I'll have to start collecting journaled notes. I wonder how long it might take to do something like that. Perhaps I'll start by expanding some of the thread ideas here too and see what people may think.
~vince~ Don't confuse me with the facts.

~vince~
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Posted 06/04/09 - 06:11 PM:	#77
paleorchid13 wrote: First off, I empathize with you, I myself found myself in the same predicament as you a few years back only my choice was to live through it for my daughters sake. Thank you. Your path is commendable as well. I think this raises many fundamental moral questions. Earlier in the thread the idea of suicide came up. Even though such an assumption in this case is Reductio ad absurdum because of its implication to favor one type of medicine over another and at what cost one should cheat or prolong life. In saying that are we not independently thinking rational adults that are capable of choosing when, and how we die? At what cost are we supposed to continue our existence? Furthermore, all arguments seem to point to, that we should have no choice over our death, only to feverishly cling to life no matter the pathetic nature. I believe that medications today in the United States artificially prolong the average lifespan by about ten years. However, the quality of life drops drastically when a lifespan is artificially extended for so long.
~vince~ Don't confuse me with the facts.

idreesazad
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Posted 06/06/09 - 10:57 PM: Subject: How Much Life Is In a Moment?	#78
Don’t think ever that how many moments you have in your life; always think that how much life is in a moment. Your decision of giving up the medicine is extraordinarily different and it makes you different from others. No doubt, you are allowed rationally to do that, as you are arguing here, but you are right if there is no smell of hopelessness in your refusal from medication. Everyone knows that hopelessness is equal to cowardice. If you say that there is no smell of hopelessness in your refusal, you will have to prove it by counting your desperation times in a day. For how much time, you can ignore your sickness while you are enjoying the gym or anything else? It will sum up the truth. You will definitely smell desperation and that’s not good rationally or ethically. Medication is nothing for a severe cancer patient but “hope”. And hope is a feeling that you will succeed tomorrow in what you have failed today. I know a patient of cancer who won his life only by will power. It was a miracle for all of us. He just asked his Doctor on the day of his first tests, is there any cure for my disease? Doctor replied, nothing except your own will power to live. And he started to build up his belief in will. You may defeat the natural phenomena by your enthusiastic spirit. You may even conquer the death at all. If you think deeply you will figure out that there is nothing, which kills you except hopelessness in all cases of death.
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coriolis
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Posted 06/11/09 - 04:05 PM:	#79
Fascinating thread...Vince I wish you the best. Just out of curiosity, and you don't have to answer if you prefer not, but is the cost of the treatments part of your decision? I really like what Unenlightened wrote: "What is more important is how we live, rather than how we die." It reminds me of Seneca's essay "On The Shortness of Life." If you haven't read that, I recommend it. I agree that it's important to die well. Living well is the means to that. What good is it to leave this life kicking and screaming? If you have no regrets and have peace, then who can judge you? I have fancied myself in the same situation and have considered whether I'd attempt to write about the experience. Such an unconventional approach would definitely make people stop and think about what is important in their lives. Your life and death could be your way of reaching people in a way that you couldn't while living. Having a belief in something afterwards certainly lessens the sting. Death becomes more of a transition than an end. You will find the answer that those who are still living can only speculate upon. Edited by coriolis on 06/11/09 - 06:20 PM
I have a love affair with Socrates but I only know him in a Platonic way.

mway
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Posted 06/11/09 - 06:49 PM:	#80
People get cancer. Lots of people. I have had family members die because of it, and see stories from all different perspectives pertaining to how people react to it. The one scenario I never see however is this (hypotheical): Two years ago, Eddie was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given a couple of years to live. He sat down and contemplated what he was going to do. He was given two choices. He could take the medication or choose not to. Eddie was a resilient guy, and so he thought of a third option of which he asked the people around him. "What if I was to attempt to cure it myself? I mean, I have it, so I would have a far greater drive to succeed." Why do you never hear anyone taking the third option? Just wondering.
Lame is to Wav, as the Brain is to Reality.

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