Journal week 2

In Heinz’s dilemma one of the major issues is the relationship between intention verses action. In Heinz’s dilemma Heinz wants to save his wife so his intention was good. However, his action of stealing the medicine from the druggist was bad. No matter how good Heinz’s intention, he still broke the law. Heinz’s dilemma is not the only example of intention verses action clashing. It has happened many times.
One example of intention verses action clashing is doctor assisted suicide. In this example the doctor has a good intention of ending the pain and suffering of his or her patient even though by following through with his intention he will be taking a life. The doctor’s intention may also have been to do what the patient asked. However by agreeing to assist the patient the doctor is playing God in my mind. I believe that taking a life is wrong. There are laws against it. Also tho shall not commit murder is a commandment in the Bible. In doctor assisted suicide cases the doctor prescribes the patient with medicine that will end his or her life, but in my opinion although the doctor is not actually pushing the drugs, shooting the patient, or some other act of killing the patient he is still completing an action that is wrong. By assisting the patient in suicide the doctor is breaking his or her oath to do no harm.
In this example the patient also has good intentions but a bad action. The patient may want his or her pain to end, to keep the cost of treatment and care down for his or her family, or to prevent his or her family from seeing him or her suffer for a long time in the hospital, nursing home, or at home. The patient’s action of asking the doctor to help him or her commit suicide is wrong because both of them will be ending a life which is wrong. The patient asking the doctor in the first place is wrong too, because it may go against the doctors personal beliefs and it also breaks the Hippocratic Oath.
Many times in life an intention may be good but the question that must be asked is it the action worth it.