Facts, Values & Ethical Reasoning

Question 1

What’s the difference between facts and values?

What are thick concepts?

Answer 1

Facts are claims about the world that have been, or can be, verified by empirical methods

Values are claims about things like preferences, attitudes, emotions, aesthetic appreciation

Thick concepts = claims that have both factual and evaluative content

Question 2

How can we assess value claims?

Answer 2

Eg ‘It will be better for me to die/you should respect my wishes/Drs are supposed to be kind and compassionate’

Assess using moral theory

Question 3

What are the 3 most popular moral theories in healthcare?

Answer 3

Consequentialism/Utilitarianism
Deontology
Virtue ethics

Question 4

Outline Consequentialism

Answer 4

Assess the moral value of anything in terms of that things outcome/impact upon the World (only based on consequences)

Aim for the best balance between benefit and harm

Theories need to defend an account of the relevant good, method of quantification and explanation of how rightness is determined

Question 5

Outline Deontology

Answer 5

Rules govern actions and we have a duty to abide by them regardless of cost = the right is prior to the good

Seeks to respect autonomy

Question 6

Outline Virtue Ethics

Answer 6

Focuses on the character of the person, not their actions, so a right act is the action a virtuous person would do in the same circumstances

Not ‘what should I do’ but ‘what kind of person do I want to be’

Question 7

How can you apply ethical reasoning in clinical practice?

Answer 7

3Ps:
Principles - autonomy, beneficience, consequentialism
Particulars - associated harms, experience, facts basically
Perspectives - of the patient, their family, registrar, other patients