The ethics of drug-induced happiness
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- The ethics of drug-induced happiness
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The ethics of drug-induced happiness
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[post_date] => 2025-01-07 07:21:50
[post_date_gmt] => 2025-01-07 12:21:50
[post_content] => Practice Passage (Question 1-6)
*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
Kant said that one’s duty to oneself consists in a prohibition against making oneself a plaything of mere inclinations. It seems that the domination of a person by drug-induced happiness should be regarded as a clear violation of human dignity, because it is equal to debasing a person to a plaything of inclinations. Human dignity is taken away in exchange for a sense of happiness induced by a drug.
Let us go on further. In the case of drug-induced happiness, those people are deprived of the “freedom to feel unhappiness” and are degraded to a plaything of mere inclinations; hence, they are considered to be devoid of “human dignity.” This means that a life with dignity necessarily requires that one’s “freedom to feel unhappiness” be totally guaranteed in one’s actual life. “A life with dignity” means a life that is not dominated by the sense of happiness.
A life with dignity has two characteristics: First, as has already been discussed above, a life with dignity is free from domination by a sense of happiness, regardless of whether or not it is acquired by means of drugs. Moreover, a life with dignity should also be free from domination by our own strong desire to experience that kind of happiness. Second, a life with dignity is free from domination by the sense of unhappiness.
This second idea is more familiar to us than the first. A life with dignity should be free from the domination of negative thoughts about one’s existence or one’s own value. People sometimes fall victim to this kind of self-negation when experiencing such hardships as severe and repeated abuse, the death of loved ones, or devastating disasters. In these cases, human dignity means the belief that whatever their suffering and hardships, all human beings have a possibility to escape from domination by the sense of unhappiness and to regain the sense of self-affirmation at some point in their future life. Hence it might be proper to use psychoactive drugs like SSRIs to medically support this recovery process for a limited period of time, paying special attention to the danger of domination by a sense of happiness.
Consider if the heart of a person who was in the depths of despair is filled with a sense of happiness caused by a perfect happiness drug. As a result, a drug-induced happiness dominates the person, and he/she is deprived of a life with dignity. If, however, such medication can provide the person with an opportunity to explore his/her life with a sense of affirmation, it should be considered good news. This is not deprivation of human dignity, because it enables that person to escape from the domination of the sense of unhappiness. Hence, I do not claim that the use of existing psychoactive drugs such as SSRIs immediately deprives us of human dignity, or that its use ought to be prohibited. What I raise an alarm over is the use of a hypothetical perfect happiness drug that could fill our heart with complete happiness, and what I have done so far has been a philosophical investigation of the relationship between human dignity and the manipulation of the sense of happiness, using a perfect happiness drug as an example.
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[question] => What is the function of the phrase, “hence, they are considered to be devoid of ‘human dignity.'” in Paragraph 2?
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Within the Text” question, because it asks you to evaluate the role of a statement in the context of the passage. To answer this type of question, refer back to the quote (in Paragraph 2) and read the sentences preceding and following the statement.
Paragraph 2 functions to further explore the “case of drug-induced happiness.”
Paragraph 2 describes the relationships between drug-induced happiness, and human dignity, and the statement in the question stem is part of this discussion.
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[each_answer] => A. It is building up to the argument that SSRIs are completely unethical.
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[1] => Array
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[each_answer] => B. It is building up to the argument that drug-induced happiness is necessary.
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[each_answer] => C. It is a logical step in an attempt to explain the relationship between human dignity and drug-induced happiness.
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[each_answer] => D. It is a logical step in an attempt to explain the relationship between organic happiness and drug-induced happiness.
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[question] => Which of the following is an example of someone the author would MOST LIKELY consider to be living “a life without dignity”?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage.
It is important to remember the author’s definition of a life with dignity. In paragraph 1, the author concludes that “a life with dignity necessarily requires that one’s “freedom to feel unhappiness” be totally guaranteed in one’s actual life.” Paragraph 3 also asserts that person should have the freedom to “escape from the domination of the sense of unhappiness.” Thus, the freedom or ability to feel is essential to the author’s definition of dignity.
A pessimist, optimist, and delinquent may all have tendencies toward viewing things a certain way or goals to optimize pleasure, but they still have “the freedom to feel” and do not lack the experience of either happiness or unhappiness. In contrast, an unfeeling sociopath (option 4), does not have such a freedom and lacks experience of both.
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[each_answer] => A. An optimist who sees the bright side of bad situations
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[each_answer] => B. A delinquent repeatedly charged for drug possession and use
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[each_answer] => C. A cynical pessimist who sees the negatives in the world
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[each_answer] => D. An unfeeling sociopath who doesn’t feel much either way
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[2] => Array
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[quiz_unique_key] => 83407773
[question] => It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that SSRIs:
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 1
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question which is asking you to recognize the author’s stance on a particular entity, SSRIs. If you’re not sure, briefly refer back to parts of the text where SSRIs are mentioned.
In the last paragraph, the author rejects the notion that should be illegal (option 4), by saying “I do not claim that the use of existing psychoactive drugs such as SSRIs… ought to be prohibited.”
In the end of Paragraph 3, the author also write that “Hence it might be proper to use psychoactive drugs like SSRIs to medically support this recovery process for a limited period of time…” thus suggesting that SSRIs may be helpful temporarily in certain circumstances.
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. Should be used to provide temporary relief from despair.
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[each_answer] => B. Are completely unnatural.
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[2] => Array
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[each_answer] => C. Result in gross distortions of reality.
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[each_answer] => D. Should be illegal.
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[quiz_unique_key] => 872728905
[question] => Which of the following is an assumption that underlies the author’s attempt to “raise an alarm” about SSRIs?
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Within the Text” question that asks you to consider an assumption underlying the author’s argument. For this question, it may be helpful to review what the author said about SSRIs if you’re not sure.
The author is arguing against a “perfect happiness” drug that could cause people to feel totally dominated by happiness.
Thus, implicit in this concern about SSRIs is that a person must feel some unhappiness in order to have dignity (option 2).
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. SSRIs have medical side effects that are not insignificant.
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[each_answer] => B. Experiencing some unhappiness is necessary in order to have dignity.
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[2] => Array
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[each_answer] => C. Happiness drugs are useful when used by people who are “dominated by despair.”
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[each_answer] => D. Definitions of happiness are the same from culture to culture.
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[quiz_unique_key] => 3143847772
[question] => Suppose the author meets a woman who says “I don’t need alcohol to be happy. I am happy all the time anyway.” The author is most likely to view this woman as:
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage. To answer this question, consider the author’s main points and how they relate to this woman’s situation.
The author writes, “A life with dignity is free from domination by a sense of happiness, regardless of whether or not it is acquired by means of drugs. Moreover, a life with dignity should also be free from domination by our own strong desire to experience that kind of happiness.”
Though drugs are not necessary for such domination that robs a life of dignity, and this woman is happy “all the time” and thus “dominated” by happiness, already. According to the author, then, this woman’s life lacks dignity.
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[each_answer] => A. being self-righteous.
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[each_answer] => B. lacking in dignity.
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[each_answer] => C. being dishonest about how happy she is.
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[each_answer] => D. having more dignity than the person who uses alcohol occasionally to increase their happiness.
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[question] => One of the author’s central arguments is that a life of dignity is a life free from:
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question which is asking you to recognize an accurate paraphrase or summary of the central theme or of particular statements in the passage, or to interpret word choices made by the author.
Paragraph 3 first discusses the requirements of a life with dignity.
Paragraph 3 (and later parts of the passage) explains that a life of dignity must be “free from domination by either a sense of happiness or a sense of unhappiness.
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[answers] => Array
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. domination by a sense of happiness.
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[each_answer] => B. domination by a sense of unhappiness.
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[each_answer] => C. domination by either a sense of happiness or unhappiness.
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[each_answer] => D. drug use.
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