The Oracle (E-Journal)
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Is Death Really All That Personal? Edited by Lexi Bilous
No full textWhen discussing MAiD, the legal-moral definition of morality is often left ambiguous. In this paper, I argue that personal autonomy is a useful concept in bioethics and MAiD by exploring the underlying tension between two accounts of autonomy: one rule-utilitarian, and one deontological. Despite some tensions between these two normative ethical theories, I argue that both deontology and rule-utilitarianism would find the current legislation in Canada regarding MAiD justifiable. After outlining these theories, I will consider arguments put forth on this topic by Beauchamp, Hooker, and Velleman. Finally, I will respond to a counterargument from the view that claims MAiD cannot be endorsed by rule-based ethical theories
Engaging with God and Sustaining Faith: Analyzing Will Eisner’s "A Contract with God": Edited by Dora Skënderi
No full textIn this paper, I discuss Will Eisner’s 1978 graphic novel A Contract with God alongside the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac to explore maintaining faith in the face of absurd loss. First, I will compare and contrast the story of Abraham and Isaac with Frimme Hersh’s story in A Contract with God. Borrowing from Kevin Hoffman’s interpretation of Fear and Trembling in his paper “Facing Threats to Earthly Felicity: A Reading of Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling,” I argue that both stories are about maintaining faith in the face of loss. I will then interpret each character’s relationship with the divine using Martin Buber’s framework of I-Thou and I-It relationships. I argue that Abraham remains in faith because he confronts God as Thou, while Hersh gives up on faith because he fails to enter into an unmediated relationship with God. Finally, I will discuss the significance of faith as something that gives meaning to absurd events. I conclude that there is still value to maintaining faith through loss, because a relationship to the divine gives meaning to otherwise meaningless events
A Right but Not a Duty: The Morality of Dying: Edited by Sana Paracha
No full textI aim to establish that a limited right to die is ethical, but that a duty to die is unjustifiable. I argue for the morality of complying with requests for assistance in dying in cases of terminal and painful illness, drawing on existing social and medical precedent around requests for withdrawal of treatment. I then deny that this right implies any moral duty to die, arguing that any such duty is dependent on unduly placing social responsibilities on individual patients, as well as on a broader and troubling rejection of human interdependence. Finally, I examine the Canadian implementation of a right to die as an example of how, when not carefully implemented, such a right can lead to a social imposition of the duty to die. I argue that this is unconscionable, and explore how we may avoid it while maintaining the limited right to die
Wild Seedlings
Get PDFThis photograph captures the stillness of hanging plants, suspended without rush or struggle. The image reflects the Taoist idea of patience and the natural flow of life, where things unfold in their own time. Just like the plant hanging freely, it’s not about being stuck or forced into motion, it’s about existing as it is. Taoism teaches us that sometimes the best thing to do is simply wait and be present in the moment, so this image invites viewers to embrace the quiet strength found in stillness and the value of letting things be, without pushing or rushing
Senescence
Get PDFThis piece of work reflects different philosophies from different authors, and how they piece together in my mind from the beginning to end. It travels from Nihilism, to Existentialism, to Absurdism, and my views on how they merge with each other in my world view. I use some allegories from Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Crime and punishment, and some loose inspiration from The Myth of Sisyphus. It also follows a bit of my philosophical journey, and how my opinions have evolved over time. It is titled Senescence, as it denotes the relative maturity of my philosophies, which was derived from personal growth
What is Death?
Get PDFLauren Rudolph is a candidate in a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is passionate about helping people enhance their wellbeing, illuminate the light within themselves even amidst darkness, and discover the anchor within themselves even amidst any storm swirling around them. She is passionate about helping people actualize the inherent power within themselves to use darkness as opportunities, to heal, and to live the lives they want to live. She has been writing poetry for over a decade. Her poetry explores themes of love and loss, the parallels between love and grief, the connections between grief and gratitude, the power of nature, finding light amidst darkness, using challenges as opportunities, concepts of health, wellbeing and healing, the value of connecting to one’s own body, and the importance of emotions
The Colonial Hangover: Why Western Law Still Thinks It’s Universal: Edited by Maaz Hamid
No full textWestern law’s claim to universality is not a neutral truth but a colonial artifact rooted in conquest and exclusion. This paper critically examines Enlightenment philosophers such as Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau, exposing how their theories rationalized imperial domination and Indigenous dispossession. Engaging decolonial thinkers like Frantz Fanon, Walter Mignolo, Glen Coulthard, and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, alongside Indigenous legal traditions such as the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace and Anishinaabe relational governance, it challenges the illusion of Western legal neutrality. Because Western law was imposed without genuine consent and constructed to suppress alternative legal orders, its legitimacy is fundamentally compromised. Liberal reforms and rights-based frameworks cannot dismantle the colonial foundations they were built upon. A radical shift toward legal pluralism is necessary, one that decouples legal legitimacy from Western epistemology and recognizes multiple legal traditions as equally valid
