Critical Thinking Assessment

The actual outcome of this assignment is that “students will demonstrate their ability to think critically by using reasonable and reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.” Read the scenario below and discuss/analyze using the critical thinking skills obtained throughout the semester. Be sure to do the following: (1)identify the problem or issue and analyze the information, (2)present multiple solutions or perspectives, (3)draw conclusions, assess the conclusion or consequences, and (4)synthesize ideas and be sure to communicate effectively. It is crucial that you use your critical thinking skills when reading an article or watching an advertisement so that you can make a well-informed and unbiased opinion about the information given. Use the Student Guide to Thinking Critically, attached paper, to help you ask the right questions when reviewing information.

In paragraph format, use the below scenario to exemplify critical thinking skills learned throughout this course. Ensure you analyze the following in your paper:

1. State the problem that is being evaluated as clearly as you can using the information given to you from the scenario provided.
2. Describe the perspectives, values and point of view of the man who killed his wife.
3. Describe the perspectives, values and point of view of the wife.
4. Describe the perspectives, values and point of view of the judge
5. Describe the perspectives, values and point of view of the children of the couple
6. Describe the perspectives, values and point of view of a doctor
7. Describe the perspectives, values and point of view of a member of clergy.
8. Based on what you have addressed in the above paragraphs, explain your values and point of view on the perspectives and problem being evaluated. What is your reasonable argument or conclusion?

If you can address each of these areas in your Critical Thinking paper, then you should perform well! Ensure you do not plagiarize- please reference plagiarism guides in the Introductory Psychology Welcome’ folder. Assignment is turned in through SafeAssign and checked for plagiarism.

Assisted Suicide

A man was ordered to face a murder trial for the killing of his wife, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease as well as severe heart disease. As a result of this disease, she could not talk or walk and had to be fed through a tube in her abdomen. One day, his wife managed to scrawl a note in which she asked her husband of forty-eight years to kill her. The husband was described as a loving spouse who was devoted to caring for his wife. The man gave his wife an injection of ground-up sleeping pills. The wife became unconscious after the sleeping pills were administered, but she did not die. The distraught husband carried his wife to the car where he attached a vacuum-cleaner hose to the exhaust pipe and ran it into the car. He got into the car, along with the family pets, intending to kill his wife, himself, and the pets. After twelve hours, the man woke up to find his wife and one of the family pets dead. The level of carbon monoxide in the wife’s blood was not high enough to kill a healthy person but enough to kill his frail wife.

The man was ordered to stand trial for killing his wife. His lawyer argued that it was a crime of “passion and compassion.” The prosecution said that what the man did was illegal and that he should be sent to jail. Assisted suicide is a source of debate across the country. In Oregon, there is a “death with dignity” law. This law allows a doctor to prescribe a lethal dose of barbiturates to patients who have less than six months to live. Since the law took effect in 1997, 292 people have asked their doctors to prescribe drugs to end their lives. **

Was the man described above guilty of murder? Should he go to jail? What were the man’s values? Should laws be changed to allow assisted suicide? Look at the different points of view and examine your own values to construct a reasonable point of view.

*Harry Jones, “Man Ordered to Face Murder Trial in the Killing of His Invalid Wife,” San Diego Union Tribune, 13 January 2000.

Here are articles that offer more information in regards to the case that will help you when writing your paper:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-13-mn-21770-story.html

https://www.sandiegomagazine.com/San-Diego-Magazine/May-2000/Murder-Or-Mercy/