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Is Self-Amputation for Survival Morally Justifiable?

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  • 1Providence College, Providence, RI, USA.

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Self-amputation for survival can be morally justifiable in Catholic tradition. This is based on the principle of totality, where sacrificing a body part for the whole person

Keywords:
bioethicsgendergender identitysexualitytransgender operations

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Area of Science:

  • Bioethics
  • Moral Theology
  • Catholic Ethics

Background:

  • The Catholic tradition traditionally views the human body as a sacred gift.
  • Self-amputation raises complex moral questions regarding the sanctity of life and bodily integrity.
  • The principle of totality is often invoked in discussions of medical ethics within Catholicism.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the moral justification of self-amputation for survival within Catholic ethical frameworks.
  • To analyze the principle of totality in relation to life-saving surgical interventions.
  • To explore the benefit/risk assessment for surgical acts impacting the well-being of the embodied person.

Main Methods:

  • Philosophical analysis of Catholic moral theology.
  • Ethical examination of the principle of totality.
  • Application of benefit/risk assessment to self-amputation scenarios.

Main Results:

  • The principle of totality, when properly understood with a benefit/risk assessment, can justify self-amputation for survival.
  • Bodily parts are subordinate to the well-being of the individual person.
  • Sacrificing a part for the good of the whole aligns with the natural end of those parts.

Conclusions:

  • Self-amputation for survival is morally justifiable in the Catholic tradition under specific conditions.
  • The well-being of the embodied person is the primary consideration in such ethical dilemmas.
  • This justification aligns with the teleological understanding of bodily parts within Catholic moral thought.