0

I made the following composition. It was meant to be a formal writing.

Most proponents of euthanasia say that it is allowed only when the patient is willing to receive it. However, when the patient's mind is not stable, i.e. he does not have a determined mind, the treatment will be problematic. He might strongly wish to be put to death because of his serious illness, or he might wish otherwise depending on a circumstance. No person can determine the will of a patient who is under such a condition.

Is my use of "he" appropriate? If not, how should I write instead of "he"?

Remark This is a translation from Japanese. It is not necessarily my opinion.

8
  • 1
    "He" was used as the default pronoun before. But gender equality movements changed it. To make the statement gender neutral, you should make it plural. (i.e., "However, when the patients' minds... They do not have... They might strongly wish..")
    – shin
    Oct 1, 2015 at 1:06
  • @shin To make the statement gender neutral, you should make it plural. What if it is impossible to make it plural? For example, you are referring to a specific person whose gender is unknown. Oct 1, 2015 at 6:04
  • @Makoko, In that case, you may refer to the answer provided below by User3169. You may substitute it with "one", or "person".
    – shin
    Oct 1, 2015 at 6:12
  • @shin Unfortunately the problem is not that simple. See, for example, chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Pronouns/… Oct 1, 2015 at 7:59
  • @shin It's not true that it was changed because of gender equality, it was changed before then due to natural language shift. And the singular/indefinite they has been used since Chaucer! Oct 2, 2015 at 8:31

1 Answer 1

1

I would write:

Most proponents of euthanasia say that it is allowed only when the patient is willing to receive it. However, when the patient's mind is not stable, i.e. does not have a determined mind, the treatment will be problematic. One might strongly wish to be put to death because of (a) serious illness, or might wish otherwise depending on a circumstance.

The i.e. phrase does not need "he", because it is describing "not stable".

The second "he" should be substituted with something gender neutral; I would use "one".
If that is not formal enough, just repeat "the patient".

The last two usages of "he" can be omitted.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .