Nicholas Lau

HIS 176
Dr. Hogan
Essay #2

While there are ideas of human dignity and social justice, the
thoughts that may come to a persons mind is if what a person wants is
best for themselves. There are many moments when a person is
unsure if a decision that they make could actually affect their current
living standards. In 1973, Dax Cowart suffered from burns that covered
70% of his body. What makes his case so controversial was his desire
to die even though he would survive from his injuries. In his mind, he
did not want to continue living a life where his quality of life will never
be the same. Even though his desire to die is not pro-life, he ultimately
should be the one who decides what should happen to his life after
such an ordeal.

One of the difficult things about determining the meaning of

social justice is that people have different opinions have about the
topic. Some say that social justice is determined by their wealth,
which gives them special privileges in society. Other determines social
justice has following the rules and laws determined by either legal
organizations or religious ones. The Catholic definition of social justice

is the respect for the human person and the rights, which flow from
human dignity and guarantee it. This means that human life is valued
and human dignity makes it so that life is always treasured and not
allowed to die. The Jesuit opinion of social justice is an action that
works towards the greater good of humans in society.

In many eyes, human dignity is seen as something that cannot

and should not be taken away. The meanings of these terms somewhat
define what a human being is and they should not be defied. What is
interesting about these terms is that our definition of them is easily
influenced by what we see and hear. The difference in social livings
seems to show people what they are worth. People do not seem
themselves on the same equal standing as other. While we should treat
everyone with value and respect, we have failed due to the way
society is now.
Dax Corwart constantly told his doctors that is was his ultimate
wish to die rather than living with burns on his body. Even though he
was able to recover from his injuries, he simply did not feel the same
and would never return to his way of living. The scars that he had to
live with were a constant reminder of what happened to him and how
he will never be the same. After his recovery, society would never see
him as a normal, regular human being. Dax knows that he would
never have the same life that he lived previously. While he was still

alive, he was spiritually never the same and mentally damaged. The
trauma that he received would affect him for the rest of his life. Even
with the access to plastic surgery, he would still have severe scarring
and never look the same. No amount of medical treatment would make
Dax truly Dax Corwart.
There is a certain line when it comes to the definition of human
dignity. Some say that the doctors were attempting to give Dax a
second chance of life. Some people question if Dax wanted that second
chance. He was denied his demand to kill himself because the doctors
continued to believe that he should be treated. They decided for Dax
that he should continue his painful life and he was the one that had to
live with their decisions. I agrgue that Dax had his human dignity taken
away by the doctors and that they should have not decided something
that he should have been allowed to do so himself. The doctors
personally believed that they were doing him a service that he would
thank them for later.
Service can be defined in many different ways but they circle
around of concept of an action that benefits others. The doctors
thought that they were benefiting Dax by keeping him alive. But is that
truly the case? Dax continued his live by enduring through huge
amounts of pain and medical treatment. He was denied his desire to
die and instead his human dignity was taken by the hospital and its
doctors.

William F. May, a bioethicist, examined the situation with Dax and

stated that social justice was not given in the situation. In his opinion,
what the doctors did was not social justice. Most of society would be on
the doctors side that Dax should be kept alive but May believes that
Daxs wishes should have been followed. For Williams definition, social
justice should have the person keep in mind what the victim ultimately
wants since they are the ones that have to live with the decision that is
made.
Eventually, Dax was not allowed to die and was saved by his
doctors. There was no certain right answer of what should have been
done. One thing to point out is that Dax would still want to die when he
was at the hospital. Despite being recovered and back to normal life,
he says that the doctors should have let him die. He did not ask for the
new life and has to see the scars of his burns everyday for the rest of
his life. Even though he had no desire to live, the doctors kept him
alive, making him have another new identity that he never asked for.

Work Cited

"HumanDignity."CatholicSocialTeaching.AccessedMarch23,2015.
http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/humandignity/.
"IssuesandAction."IssuesandAction.AccessedMarch23,2015.
http://www.usccb.org/issuesandaction/index.cfm.
May,WilliamF."Chapter1:TheBurned."InThePatient'sOrdeal,1735.
Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress,1991.
"WhatIsSocialJustice?"SaintLouisUniversity:CollegeforPublicHealthand
SocialJustice.AccessedMarch23,2015.http://www.slu.edu/collegefor
publichealthandsocialjustice/aboutthecollege/whatissocialjustice.