Essays on Mental Capacity

Animal cognition is the mental capacity of animals as well as the study of animals’ mental capacity. The study of mental capacities of animals has stemmed from comparative psychology, which includes studying the conditioning of animals and their learning. Working memory is a major executive function that makes up the cognitive system and deals with information by providing transient holding, processing as well as manipulation. The study of working memory in animals has mainly focused on spatial memory with most of the studies trying to provide a clarification for spatial memory psychological basis together with the hippocampus role. Balda & ...

Analysis of Ethical Dilemma

Analysis of Ethical Dilemma The healthcare system encounters a variety of ethical dilemmas, which sometimes have an impact on the social, legal, and professional world. An ethical dilemma is a situation that doesn’t have a right or wrong solution, but is rather determined by the outcome or the rationale behind the actions taken. While some ethical dilemmas resolve quietly, others arouse much conflict among the stakeholders. Voluntary/assisted euthanasia is one of the controversial issues in healthcare that affects various aspects of the profession. This paper will discuss the ethical dilemma of euthanasia and assisted suicide with reference to ...

I. Introduction: Estate Planning As the saying goes, nothing is more certain in life than death. As many lawyers are trained, if you know that an event will happen, it is best to prepare for that event in order to put yourself in the best possible situation to take advantage of circumstances when the event occurs. The law’s response to effectively preparing for the ultimate eventuality is known as estate planning. Estate planning, in essence, is the process and procedures performed by an individual to arrange for the transfer of their “estate” in anticipation of death or incapacity ( ...

John Rawls is a great proponent of the natural rights theory. With his theory of the veil of ignorance, Rawls is of the idea that everyone has some rights that accrue to them by nature. Natural right is a philosophical perspective developed by Hobbes, and it portends that all living beings have rights, and these rights would make an individual act or fail to act in a certain way. The veil of ignorance by John Rawls is premised on the inviolable rights of an individual; this makes him fall under the natural rights theoretical concept. Rawls argues that to ...

In everyday life, an average human being interacts with so many experiences, some of which significantly influence our response. In a college party for instance, several people are having conversations and loud music is playing: and yet each groups of people conversing can still make out what the other person is saying despite the noise. In morning traffic, it is typical to see a corporate employee communicating through a hands free device, taking coffee and driving at the same time. In college rooms, it is typical to find one student reading while the other plays music. How is all ...

The advancements in modern medicine in the last few decades are responsible for new treatment methodologies in treating deadly diseases. However, there are some areas of the human body that still remain a mystery. The human brain is one of the more complex organs and there is no forseeable outcome irrespective of the infirmity. The medical community faces hard choices whenever they encounter a difficult situation involving brain damage. The chances for recovery from a severe brain damage are slim. Hence, during such times, a hospital staff will request the family for consent to withdraw specific medical treatment or ...

Abstract

This paper puts the legal and ethical issues of physician-assisted suicide in the context of the larger debate on privacy and the right to die, which can be divided into three constituent parts: (1) a patient’s constitutionally protected right to privacy in all matters involving end-of-life treatment decisions. So long as a patient has the mental capacity to make informed consent, the government does not have a legitimate interest to override end-of-life decisions. Critical to the analysis of a patient’s refusal of life-sustaining treatment is the burden of the state to prove a patient did not have ...