Blok 9 Flashcards
What is relativism (Brandt?) and which types?
relativism = the idea that people can hold different views on the same moral issue. There are two types of relativism:
● Cultural relativism, which can occur on two levels:
○ Relativism with regard to moral judgments
The same moral questions are answered differently between two people from different communities. This is a difference based on moral values, probably based on the different aspects of the community. It occurs on the level of judgment. But when all aspects of communities and cultures are not taken into account, everyone has the same moral grounding values and principles, they believe.
○ Relativism with regard to underlying moral standards
They believe the underlying moral standards can differ between people (radical relativists).
● Normative relativism: it’s not only about the difference between communities and their values, but these should also be morally acknowledged. Other values can not be criticized but should be accepted.
What is pluralism (Maclyntyre)
Pluralism (Maclyntyre): the existence of more than one moral view on a subject. Pluralists believe there actually is one right answer, even though there are different views coexisting, and that moral disagreement can be overcome. They believe that there are steps to be taken to come to an agreement:
➔ The objective, factual information should be present;
➔ The terminology should be unambiguous;
➔ A common framework of moral norms should be accepted; ➔ Examples or counterexamples should be used;
➔ The arguments should be analyzed, logic should be used.
What is justification?
Justification: when a moral statement is made, this should be justified by referring to a rule, norm, value, or principle. The reasoning should be relevant as well as sufficient.
What are different perspectives on knowledge and truth in morality?
● Cognitivism: moral judgments are grounded in empirical reality.
● Noncognitivism: a moral judgment is just an expression of a feeling, it has nothing
to do with empirical reality. Uttering statements is not just about stating facts, it’s
about mobilizing or persuading others to do or feel something.
● Reflective equilibrium (Beauchamp & Childress): a moral claim is true if it is
coherent with all other moral understandings.
What is particular morality?
Particular morality is not universal. Many norms do not apply to all human beings in all circumstances. For example the differences between norms for physicians and lawyers (‘professional morality’). These norms are not vague and abstract but are specific and rich in context and can require special knowledge.
What is a moral dilemma?
A moral dilemma is not a question about what has to be done, it’s not a practical dilemma. “Moral dilemmas are circumstances in which moral obligations demand or appear to demand that a person adopt each of two (or more) alternative but incompatible action, such that the person can’t perform all the required actions.” This can occur in two forms:
➔ Some evidence indicates that something is morally right, some evidence says it isn’t. The evidence is inconclusive (e.g. women with doubts about abortion);
➔ Moral grounds indicate someone to perform two actions that can not be done both in the circumstance (e.g. life-prolonging therapies from patients suffering from a wakeful unconscious state).
WHat are the 4 moral principles in biomedical ethics? (= principlism) en hoe gebruikt?
Principles: general guidelines for the formulation of more specific rules. (deze komen van een common morality)
● Respect for autonomy (respecting and supporting autonomous decisions);
● Nonmaleficence (avoiding the causation of harm);
● Beneficence (preventing hard and providing benefits, balancing benefits against
risks and costs);
● Justice (fairly distributing benefits, risks, and costs).
In een case:
- afwegen welke principes. Elk principe moet gespecificeerd en gewogen worden specifiek aan de casus.
- According to Principlism, each of the principles is, on its first impression (prima facie), morally obligatory, but it may be modified or overridden in certain situations. The actual obligation may be very different from the prima facie one(s)
Beauchamp and Childress propose six conditions that must be met to justify infringing one prima facie norm in order to adhere to another (cited): (Beauchamp en Childress stellen zes voorwaarden voor waaraan moet worden voldaan om het overtreden van de ene prima facie norm te rechtvaardigen om zich aan een andere te houden (geciteerd):)
- Good reasons are offered to act on the overriding norm rather than the infringed norm;
- The moral objective justifying the infringement has a realistic prospect of achievement;
- No morally preferable alternative actions are available;
- The lowest level of infringement, commensurate with achieving the primary goals
of the action, has been selected; - All negative effects of the infringement have been minimized;
- All affected parties have been treated impartially.
Eight causes of moral disagreement which are described by B&C
Eight causes of moral disagreement are described by Beauchamp and Childress:
1. Factual disagreements;
2. Disagreements resulting from insufficient information;
3. About which norms are applicable or relevant;
4. About the relative weights or rankings;
5. About the appropriate forms of specification or balancing;
6. The presence of a genuine moral dilemma;
7. Scope and moral status disagreements about who should be protected;
8. Conceptional disagreements.
What is autonomy?
Autonomy literally translates to ‘self-rule’ and has theoretically two conditions:
1. Liberty: independence from controlling influences;
2. Agency: the capacity for intentional action.
a. One needs the capacities to understand certain choices and their consequences and be able to act accordingly
3 condition theory(autonomy)
Intentionality: to act with purpose. There are no degrees of intention, something is either intended or not. However, an intended act can still conflict with other wants and desires; (zwart of wit, je hebt het of je hebt het niet)
- Understanding: the actor has the knowledge and ability to judge the subject. Only a substantial degree of understanding is needed.
- Non-control / voluntariness: the actor must be free from internal and external influences that are controlling. (addiction is bv iets wat je internally kan beinvloeden).
Weber business ethics? and for what?
Priority principles of business ethics
1. Basic individual rights
2. Individual self-interest
3. The interests of the organization or institution
4. The public good / the community good.
How should we rank these? 1 en 4 of equal value. Individual cases: conflict 1 and 4, je moet de casus goed analyseren. 3 (3 staat boven 2.)
- 1 + 4 3 2.
Weber can help you to analyze case, but does not provide definite answers.
How can we respect the autonomy of others?
➔ A respectful attitude towards others: give room for self-governance;
➔ Respectful action: building and maintaining the capacity for autonomous choice
(being truthful, respecting privacy, getting informed consent, etc.);
➔ The duty to respect autonomy substantiates the right to choose.
Some people are deemed unable to make rightful decisions, for example, infants or patients dependent on drugs.
Violations of autonomy
Competence: the capacity to make an autonomous choice or perform a task. This ability
varies over time and is bound to the circumstance. This is determined by using competence judgments. These judgments have a normative function of qualifying or disqualifying persons for certain decisions or actions but is sometimes incorrectly seen as empirical. The methods used can be empirical but are always based on normative judgments.
Standards of incompetence:
● Inability to express a preference
● Inability to understand one’s situation and its consequences;
● Inability to understand relevant information;
○ Inability to give a (rational) reason;
○ Inability to give risk/benefit-related reasons;
○ Inability to reach a reasonable decision.
The criteria of particular competencies vary from context to context because the criteria are relative to specific tasks.
Competence can negatively influence the degree of understanding and the intentionality of a person.
Influence: 3 types of external influences
Coercion: using a credible and severe threat to control another person (e.g. threat of force by the police);
○ Coercion occurs only if the target feels threatened and the threat was intended;
● Persuasion: when a person comes to believe something through the merit of reasons another person advances (e.g. propaganda);
● Manipulation: a generic term for other forms of influence that are neither persuasive nor coercive, but incompatible with autonomous decision making (e.g. lying, information manipulation, exaggerating);
○ The manner in which information is presented (tone of voice, forceful gestures, framing) is important.
What is relational autonomy?
Relational autonomy states that identity and autonomy are not isolated and
independent, but shaped by social interactions with others. It focuses on relationships with others and morality as a virtue;
Relational autonomy is about asking questions as an autonomous agent to decide if an action should be executed while maintaining self-respect? The true self that is consulted in this process is dynamic, and not just discovered by removing the ‘social layers’. The true self evolves from autonomous competence. Identities and choices are shaped by interaction with others (interdependence).
Kritiek b&c: je moet zelf keuzes maken, niet baseren op relaties met anderen (maar dat gebeurd toch wel, dus vandaar compassionate interference).
What is compassionate interference?
instead of taking an attitude of non-interference and thereby respecting the autonomy of the patient, there was a plea for an active and committed role for the professional caretaker. The carer should not stand aside. On the contrary, he should follow the patients, look him up, and direct him when necessary
critiques on the traditional model of autonomy:
- They question the idea of self-sufficiency and independence as the main value for a
human living (emphasizing self-sufficiency neglects other virtues as a trust); - Autonomy as a moral competence is not seen in isolation from other persons and relationships (autonomous competence can only be developed through interaction
with others).
Furthermore, the role of a care practitioner should be more about responsibilities instead of rights. Respecting the autonomy of the patient is not always in the best interest of the patient himself, especially when the patient is not deemed competent. Providing compassionate interference can even create an opportunity for the patient to become more autonomous (Verkerk, 2001).
What is beneficence
Beneficence literally translates to ‘good-doing’. It’s about taking positive steps for the welfare of patients, clients, or citizens (taking action). Beneficence obligates people to:
● Protect and defend the rights of others;
● Prevent harm from occurring to others;
● Remove conditions that will cause harm to others;
● Help persons with disabilities;
● Rescue persons in danger.
Doing good does not necessarily mean taking large risks. This means there is a thin line between obligatory beneficence, acting beyond obligatory and ideal beneficence.
General beneficence is directed beyond special relationships to all persons, whereas specific beneficence rests on moral relations, contracts, or special commitments.
