Briefly summarize the case of Edward Downes. What is your opinion of his decision to end
his life? Why?What are the challenges to the relativist position? Which one resonates with
you the most and why?
Edward Downes was a renowned composer as well as a conductor. Downes was a Briton.
According to the case, Downes with his wife, Joan, traveled Swiss to commit suicide. They had
been married for more than 54 years. A certain Swiss group named Dignitas assisted them in
ending their lives. The main reason behind Downes suicide was that his wife had been diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer after which she was given a few weeks to live. Downes thought that there
was no use of living without his wife. The main reason for him to travel to Swiss was that
assisted death was illegal in the UK. It was decided by the UK authorities to not punish their son
even though he accompanied them.
According to the case there are two main conflicting lenses, moral absolutism and moral
relativism. My opinion is based on moral relativism which is an ethical view point that all moral
judgements are true or false based on a certain standpoint and that no perspective is uniquely
advantaged over all others. In my opinion assisted suicide could be wrong or right depending on
an individual’s standpoint or perspective. My standpoint is that the choice of Downes to end his
life was right. This is because even though he was not terminally ill, his choice of ending his life
was completely rational and he was not coerced by any person to do so. Also, I think that he
made the right decision since he decided to die with dignity because he felt that life would be
worthless without his wife. Thus, instead of living a miserable life in the absence of his wife, it
was a good decision to commit suicide and die a dignified death.
