Ethical Theories

Question 1

What is morality?

Answer 1

Concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct

Question 2

What is Blooms experiment?

Answer 2

Babies are drawn to the good over the neutral or the bad puppet.

Question 3

What is ethics?

Answer 3

A system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is good for individuals and society

Question 4

What is meta ethics?

Answer 4

–Abstract
–nature of goodness and badness, right or wrong

Question 5

What are normative ethics?

Answer 5

Focus is on acts
–Agent – Person performing the act,
–Act itself
–Consequences of the act
–virtue, deontological, and consequentialist–each emphasising one of these elements

Question 6

What is consequentialism?

Answer 6

An act is evaluated solely in terms of its consequences

Question 7

What is utilitarianism?

Answer 7

Maximising good – wellbeing/welfare; most happiness for the largest number of people

Question 8

What is preference utilitarianism?

Answer 8

(utility increases as preference/desire is satisfied)- Hedonism/Hedonistic utilitarianism (Maximise Pleasure vs. Pain – simple sensory vs higher cognitive)

Question 9

What is deontology?

Answer 9

Features of the act themselves determine worthiness.

•E.g., Kantianism or Virtue

Question 10

What are challenges of a deontologist?

Answer 10

•Key concern is with duties and rights.

•Not about consequences of actions but acts have intrinsic worthiness

•Can duties conflict?

Question 11

What are virtue ethics?

Answer 11

•Focus is on the character of the agent
•Integrates reason and emotion
•How should I act? What should do I (Ethics of obligation, deontic) V How shall I live? (ethics of character)

Question 12

What is a virtue?

Answer 12

A virtue is a trait of character manifested in habitual action, that is good for a person to have and

Question 13

What is a moral virtue?

Answer 13

A moral virtue is a socially AND morally valuable trait of character.

Question 14

What Character traits are key for flourishing in clinical practice?

Answer 14

•conscience
•wisdom
•temperance
•compassion
•integrity
•justice
•honesty

Question 15

What are limitations of virtue ethics?

Answer 15

•The assessment of virtue is culture-specific?

•The notion of virtue is too broad and non-specific to allow for practical application?

•An emphasis on the moral character of individuals ignores social and communal dimensions

Question 16

What are applications of virtue ethics?

Answer 16

•Fitness to practise issues can be failures of virtue

•Understanding your patient’s coping strategies with regard to bad news or illness

Question 17

What are care ethics?

Answer 17

•Motivation to care for those in need, vulnerable,

•Emphasizes the dependency within human nature

•“one-caring” and the “cared-for”—obligation to care reciprocally; meet the other morally; the ethical demand to care takes precendence

•See- Logstrup’s ethical demand, Carol Gilligan’s works

Question 18

What are the four principles?

Answer 18

•Autonomy
•Beneficience
•Non-maleficience
•Justice

Question 19

What is autonomy?

Answer 19

•Autos (Self), Nomos (rule/law)

•Self Determination – Liberty and Agency

•Paternalism

Question 20

What is beneficience?

Answer 20

•provide benefit to others

•Better off than before.

Question 21

What is non-maleficience?

Answer 21

•Do no harm

•Prevent/reduce harm

Question 22

What is justice?

Answer 22

•Utility/QALYs/

•Need vs benefit

•Aristotelian equality – like case like and unlike cases differently