Intro and Theories

Question 1

Philosophy

Answer 1

A way of thinking; the critical study of ideas, beliefs

Question 2

Ethics

Answer 2

Area of philosophy; deals with “basic”/”fundamental” questions

Question 3

Healthcare

Answer 3

The treatment and management of illness, and the ways goods and services are designed and distributed to promote and preserve wellbeing

Question 4

Why are ethical issues difficult to resolve?

Answer 4

They come in the form of moral dilemmas

Question 5

What are the features of a moral dilemma? (3)

Answer 5

• The agent has an obligation to do each (or more) of the actions before her
• The agent can do each of the actions but can’t do both (or all) of them
• The agent seems doomed to moral fail whatever she does

Question 6

Examples of moral dilemmas (3)

Answer 6

• Repaying one’s debt - neighbor with weapon
• The principle of confidentiality - your patents says they’ll kill someone
• Informed consent and competency - person with MS changes their mind on a feeding tube

Question 7

What are the four biomedical principles?

Answer 7

1. Non-maleficence (do not cause harm)
2. Beneficence (do good and prevent harm)
3. Autonomy (respect preferences)
4. Justice (be fair and treat like cases alike)

Question 8

What does a good health care practitioner understand? (3)

Answer 8

• Practical morality (biomedical principles, how to apply them, ranking, and justification)
• Legal reasoning (the relevant laws that govern heath care practices)
• Professional practice (codes of ethics of one’s profession)

Question 9

What does a professional code of ethics not provide tools to…? (3)

Answer 9

• Resolve conflicts
• Reconcile a patient’s right of access
• Deal with conceptual questions

Question 10

What are the three main branches of ethics?

Answer 10

• Metaethics (analytic ethics)
• Normative ethics (ethical theory)
• Applied ethics (practical or case ethics)

Question 11

What is metaethics?

Answer 11

Deals with questions of whether morality exists and the status of moral language, value and properties.

Question 12

What is normative ethics?

Answer 12

Concerned with ethical behaviour and examines questions around how, morally speaking or a moral sense, one ought to act or behave.

Question 13

What is applied ethics?

Answer 13

About the practical application of moral considerations and the moral permissibility and impermissibility of specific actions and practices (bioethics, buisiness ethics, environmental ethics, etc)

Question 14

How does each branch of ethics address the question: “Is there morality”

Answer 14

• Metaethics tries to provide a head on answer
• Normative ethics assumes affirmative answer and then proceeds with theoretical judgements
• Applied ethics assumes affirmative answer and examines the types of actions

Question 15

What are moral values?

Answer 15

Refer to the moral norms/rules/principles that we live by in society (moral values are part of morality)

Question 16

What is morality?

Answer 16

A formal system of rules of behavior, i.e., a system of rules about how one ought to behave in society, what is right or wrong, good or bad behavior.

Question 17

What is ethics?

Answer 17

The systematic, critical study of morality as a concept and a source of behavioral guidance

Question 18

Moral subjectivism

Answer 18

A moral theory that takes morality to be a matter of personal opinion (right and wrong is what an individual thinks)

Question 19

Ethical egoism

Answer 19

An ethical theory that takes self-interest as the foundation of morality (right and wrong are determined by what satisfies an individual’s self-interest)

Question 20

Moral scepticism

Answer 20

A moral theory that denies or doubt reasons to be moral and our capacity to acquire moral knowledge, justified moral belief, moral truth, moral facts, or properties.

Question 21

Ethical/moral relativism

Answer 21

An ethical theory that takes morality to be contextual, namely, relative to different cultures and society’s cultural history/traditions

Ex. killing, caring for young ones, truth-telling

Question 22

Care ethics

Answer 22

A moral theory that requires we minimize or avoid harm and create, maintain, and protect positive relations

Emerged in 1980s from Carol Gilligan in “In a Different Voice”

Question 23

Communal ethics

Answer 23

An ethical theory (present in African ethics, indigenous ethics, and several other non-Western ethics) that evaluates the morality of actions or conduct by the force of those actions or conduct to enhance communal values

Question 24

Virtue ethics

Answer 24

An ethical theory that evaluates the morality or rightness of actions or conduct in terms of virtues, where virtues are taken to be character traits that are developed over time

Question 25

Consequentialism

Answer 25

An ethical theory or view that evaluates the morality or rightness of actions or conduct by the outcomes or **consequences** that they produce. Ex. Utilitarianism

Question 26

Deontology

Answer 26

An ethical theory that evaluates the morality or rightness of actions on the basis of some rules, or relating to duty or obligation.

Question 27

What is utilitarianism?

Answer 27

a type of **consequentialist** ethical theory that judges the rightness of actions in terms of **“utility”** (welfare/enjoyment/satisfaction/preferences and pleasure/happiness - Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill)

Question 28

What is Kantian ethics?

Answer 28

A type of **deontological** ethical theory that judges the rightness of actions in terms of the **categorical imperative**

Question 29

What are the arguments for utilitarianism? (6)

Answer 29

1. Satisfaction - intrinsically good; frustration - intrinsically bad 2. Everything is valued instrumentally as means to satisfy pleasure 3. More of good is always better than less 4. Acts producing more pleasure are better than those producing less 5. No individual has more claim to have their interests satisfied than any other 6. We should judge acts by their consequences and choose those that produce greatest overall benefit for all

Question 30

What are some major claims of utilitarianism? (5)

Answer 30

- **Consequences matter** over anything else - Right acts promote the **best consequences** - **Utility** rules - The **principle of utility** is the morally guiding principle of action - Moral dilemmas should be resolves by a **cost-benefit analysis**

Question 31

Which biomedical principles are supported by utilitarianism?

Answer 31

1. Principle of non-maleficence 2. Principle of beneficence

Question 32

What does kantian ethics place value on?

Answer 32

Autonomy - the power of self-rule or self-command

Question 33

What are the categorical imperatives for Kantian ethics? (2)

Answer 33

1. The Formula of the **Universal Law**: "Act only on a maxim that you can at the same time will should become a universal law." 2. The **Humanity** Formula: “So act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.”

Question 34

Which biomedical principles are supported by Kantian ethics?

Answer 34

3. The principle of autonomy 4. The principle of justice