The Sanctity of Human Life and Qualitative Human Existence - Research Proposal Example

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL The sanctity of human life and qualitative human existence are in no way mutually exclusive. "Sanctity" is "the condition of being considered sacred or holy, and therefore entitled to respect and reverence" (Encarta Dictionary), or, "sacredness, inviolability" (Oxford Dictionary). In other words, it is the respect of being and infrangibility of right a thing merits by virtue of its sacredness. Sacredness, however, implies awesome veneration, the sort of veneration deserved by what is Divine or what is connected with a deity. Consequently, since qualitativeness is by definition inherent in sanctity and sacredness- proper inviolability , respect, and veneration being of classical and qualitative human qualities- it follows that no real seeking for qualitative human existence can exclude, still less endanger, the sanctity of human life. Here, Muggeridge's statement of 1997 is relevant: "The quest for quality of life could endanger the human race if sanctity of life is ignored." That is, the quest for qualitative human life which ignores the sanctity of life carries within it the potential of failure and counter-productivity; consequently, the preservation of the sanctity of human life must go hand in hand with the quest for quality of life. Yes, that is a logical theoretical inference, with two operative phrases "the preservation" and "must go hand in hand". Aristotle, however, once said that talking (or theorising) about virtue does not make a man virtuous. To be virtuous, the desiring one must do something, must act- according to a well-conceived, open-minded and intelligibly articulated conceptual frame, which must form the (temporary or permanent guide) and watchword for the aspirer. Therefore, to begin with: What is a practical pursuit of the quality of life What is that pursuit that does not in any way exclude the preservation of the sanctity of human life Moreover, what is human life, whose quality one wishes to improve What are its facets and ramifications, its scope, the limits of its entirety Is it all about satisfying the instincts of hunger, thirst, sleep, and sex All about traditionalistic religious devotion, churchism, or Islamism About quintessential scholarly fulfilment Amassing wealth and riches Marrying and raising families Evidently, none of these activities capture the human life comprehensively, since not every one is religious, can be scholarly, will marry and raise families, or can amass wealth and riches; yet everyone has a (human) life, irrespective of his background, privilege, ability or disability; irrespective of his sanity or insanity. Then, the quality of life. By what yardstick is the quality of life to be measured By political stability By economic prosperity Religious edification Or by a predominance of sterling scholarship The United States and Britain, two of the most politically stable nations of the world, do not praise or envisage the attainment of their kind of politics by other nations as barometers of a flawless qualitative human life (Academic Digestive 2005). Neither does a polity content itself with perfecting its political development, in the hope of attaining to a wholesome life for its people. Since 1940(when the performance of economy began to be measured systematically), man has focused on the pursuit of economic growth, striving to increase the flow of traded goods and services, concentrating on the creation of factories- local, national, multinational; on the cultivation of raw materials and their large-scale conversion into goods and assets, on discovering and nurturing skills of craftsmanship, improvisation and serendipity-all towards achieving and sustaining vibrant economic standards, whose beauty envisioned from a distance by the wandering inquisitiveness of mankind, seemed to promise the advent of a comprehensively, if not perfectly, enhanced quality of human life. While, consequently, the demand for goods and services, intranationally and internationally, has provided a clear measure of a nation's social economic welfare, evidence is everywhere of the inability of national wealth and self-sufficiency to provide an all-embracing quality of human life. For instance, there is the prevalence of man's inhumanity to man, of greed, conflicts, theft, avarice. Consequently, the quest for economic fulfillment is not the end of the story, and researches on the proposed issues of the quality of life have not only persisted, but have grown in their concerned propositions and theories, highlighting the fact that economic growth and well-being are but one department of the practical realisation of a comprehensive human-life quality. Again, none of the followers of Christianity or Islam, the most popular religions on earth today, will claim that life begins and ends with the religious observances within their church or mosque; or that ultimate religious devotion and fulfilment are identical to perfect life fulfilment. Rather, religious devotion and fulfilment have at best been identified and proven as one facet of the quest for qualitative human existence, complementing and furthering other facets (Elisabeth, 1999). In any case, the reality of the proliferation of religious denominations, which is in part occasioned by the unsatisfied longing for a conceived upliftment in the quality of human life, is an indication of this reality. Neither does the apex of scholarship satiate its achiever in his desire for ultimate inner satisfaction, as Andrew Melatrobitch, a renowned American philosopher, once demonstrated a few years ago. New scholarly discoveries are made, new hypothesis and theories emerge, but none has satisfied the quest for qualitative human existence. Thus, scholarship and its application, however well-conceived, do not afford or guarantee qualitative human existence. A proof of their marginality to the upliftment of human life. In all these and other fields of human endeavour, only fractions of the quality of the human of life have been addressed, fractions which do not always concern every class of the society. But why this one-sidedness Absorbed by its current search of possibilities for something new and decisive, the human race does not notice that it is often neglecting, to its own detriment, the realms of natural law. Natural Law is universal, applies to and addresses the needs and fulfilments of all and sundry. "It is fundamentally unchanging and universally applicable" (Encarta, 2004). The universal quest for qualitative human existence, being unchanging in and fundamental to all peoples, is therefore anchored and explained in the principle of natural law, which "may be considered an ideal to which humanity aspires."( Encarta, 2004). Consequently, by induction or by deduction, it should become possible, in the light of a systematic grasp of natural law, to blaze out a trail towards the achievement of qualitative human existence. Philosophy, theology, the Christian religion, and modern theory have identified natural law from various illuminating perspectives. Philosophy identifies it as a principle "that can serve as a standard for evaluating conduct and civil laws." (Ibid) Thus, a yardstick for measuring which conducts are for and which are against the fuifilment of life and the universal quest for qualitative human existence. Stoic, a philosopher, once stated that "the whole cosmos is rationally ordered by an active principle. Every individual creature is part of the cosmos. To live virtuously means to live in accord with one's nature, to live according to reason." In other words, emphasis must shift from rulers and governments to the individual human being, whose virtuous deeds and living "according to reason" will not only tend towards the attainment of a qualitative human life for him as an individual, but will, at the same time, ensure the preservation of the sanctity of human life in his delicate consideration for the lives of fellow mortals-beneficial virtuousness, originating from the virtue which lies in the very structure of the cosmos of which he is a part -by reason of its fundamental universal Providence, of its benevolent untiring regularisation of human instincts ( for food, drink and rest, for instance) and of its endowment of intrinsic human inclinations ( for instance, to investigate, to learn, to unite with other human beings for a common good). "Christians found the natural law doctrine of the Stoics quite compatible with their beliefs. The 6th-century Spanish theologian St Isidore of Seville affirmed that natural law is observed everywhere by natural instinct; he cited as illustrations the laws ordaining marriage and the procreation of children."( Ibid) These "laws of marriage and procreation" (as they could aptly be called), are obviously benevolent laws, innate inclinations that ensure continuity of life and a multiplication of the individual's strength and potentials. The Catholic Church has particularly been instructive in these matters. St .Thomas Aquinas of the Catholic denomination, "called the rational guidance of creation by God, the 'Eternal Law'. The Eternal Law gives all beings the inclination to those actions and aims that are proper to them. Rational creatures, by directing their own actions and guiding the actions of others, share in divine reason itself. 'This participation in the Eternal Law by rational creatures is called the Natural Law.' Its dictates correspond to the basic inclinations of human nature. Thus, according to Aquinas, it is possible to distinguish good from evil by the natural light of reason." (Ibid). Modern theory, too, though departing from traditional standpoints, proffers valuable thoughts on the natural law. The Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius ,considered the founder of the modern theory of natural law, defined natural law as "that body of rules which can be discovered by the use of reason" (Ibid), although he brought up the hypothesis that this law would have validity even if there were no God, Who has concern for the well-being of humankind. An investigation of these perspectives on the natural law will no doubt open a path towards the attainment of qualitative human existence. Consequently, in this dissertation, I should like to research from the philosophical, theological and modern viewpoints, the importance of the sanctity of life in reference to qualitative human existence, and to explore the significance of this sanctity to the attainment of an ideal human existence. I would summarise some of the main opinions and practices of the Catholic Church, and consider the utilitarian point of exemplified by the philosopher Peter Singe. I would also observe the modern openings in the field of "quality of life" and include my reflection on the evidence presented to the Joffe select Committee. A fundamental part of my aim in this research is to diverge from the trend of the current approaches to this issue, which, over the last 50 years, has insidiously progressed in corroding the germs of truth and enlightenment. I would put in my quota towards checking this enduring deleterious microscopic phenomenon. "Corrosion begins in microscopic proportions," Leo Alexander once wrote. Reference List Elisabeth, I.H,. 1999 "The Factes of human existence" .Existentialism. 1st edn.Toson Education R.A, Igbegunrin. Encarta Dictionary(2004). "Natural Law". Encarta Encyclopedia( 2004.) "Quality of Life". Academic Digestive, April 2004,Vol.23,pp.20-24. The Oxford talking Dictionary (1998). Read More