History of Ethics and Bioethics Flashcards
concerned with relations between people and how they can live in peace and harmony
morality
Aims to protect cherished values or “good”
morality
– for individual/ for community (quality life), property, liberty, or idea
good
Makes things go better and gives more meaning to life
morality
Also pertains to the beliefs of the individual or groups as to what is right or wrong
morality
May differ from society to society or culture to culture
morality
Expressed in the form of general rules and statements
morality
Usually consistent but sometimes can change if the individual’s belief change
morality
Transcends cultural norms
morality
systematic reflection on and analysis of morality
ethics
A fundamental part of the life of everyone in society
ethics
Can be applied to everyday problems among individuals, in institutions, and in society
ethics
Guiding principles which helps the individual or group to decide what is right or wrong
ethics
Generally uniform and abstract
ethics
Governed by professional and legal guidelines within a particular time and place
ethics
- Major areas/tools of ethical analysis (2)
metaethical considerations
normative ethical considerations
tries to discover reasons given for making a moral judgement about the moral life
metaethical considerations
Geared to thinking about our reasons for defending particular position
metaethical considerations
Requirement: awareness of own beliefs, imagination to influence right/wrong
metaethical considerations
ask more concrete questions related to morality
normative ethical considerations
What types of acts are morally right or wrong?
What types of values are morally good or bad?
what ethical analysis
normative ethical considerations
types of metaethical
absolutism
relativism
rest on the notion that what is right based on knowledge that can be known to be truth
absolutism
Moral sources can be religious beliefs, natural laws, intuition
absolutism
Asserts that there are certain universal moral principles by which all people’s action may be judged
absolutism
rest on the assumption that ethical statements are not known to be ultimately true or false
relativism
Moral sources are usually from cultural source and societal source
relativism
Believes that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles
relativism
theories of normative ethics (2)
deontological theory
teological theory
Greek deonto means
duty
Relies on duties, rights or other means of acting, MEANS theories
deontological theory
– Greek telos means
end
Relies on ends or consequences to determine when one is acting rightly or wrongly
Ends theories
teological theory
holds that one is acting rightly when one acts according to one’s duties and rights
deontological theory
Therefore, duties and rights are the correct means to use in evaluating a course of action
what theory
deontological theory
Simple to apply; just requires that people follow the rules and do their duty
deontological theory
Avoids subjectivity and uncertainty because you only have to follow set rules
deontological theory
Identified with the writings of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
deontological theory
he held every person has an inherent dignity and on that basis alone is entitled to respect
Immanuel Kant
He thought that duties and rights of individuals help to distinguish how their respect can be honored
Immanuel Kent
It follows that the right thing is always to be guided by moral duties, responsibilities
deontological theory
He concluded that some actions are intrinsically immoral, no matter how positive and beneficial one might judge the consequences to be; and other actions are intrinsically moral, no matter how negative the consequences might be
Immanuel Kent
In other words, one can’t judge the moral rightness or wrongness of an act on the basis of its consequence alone
deontological theory
is shown by never using people to achieve other goals or consequences
respect
concerned with consequences based on the concept of utilitarianism
teological theory
Holds the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number
teleological theory
The only moral framework that can justify the use of military forces or war
teleological theory
Also the most common approach to moral reasoning used in business
teleological theory
teleological theory is first developed by two English philosophers (2)
Jeremy Bentham
John Stuart Mill
an act is right if it is useful to bring about the best consequences overall
utilitarianism
- Significance of studying bioethics
- Ethics are set of moral principles or values that govern behavior
- Individual makes personal decision about what they believe is right or wrong
- Ethical rules help individuals decide on how to behave in different situations
- Ethics is essential to live in a responsible and meaningful life
- Ethics allow individual to deepen understanding for worth holding opinions
- Ethics identifies ethical practices applicable to different actions and situations
- Ethics analyzes interactions brought about by advance in technology
- ethics examines conducts that can bring benefits or harm to people
- ethics prepares health care students to deal difficult situations in rational and principled manner
- applied ethics attempts to use philosophical methods to identify moral correct course of actions in various fields (biomedical, engineering, business, agriculture, environmental, military) of everyday life.
developed one of the earliest moral philosophies from the Greek mystery religion Orphism
Pythagoras
s a mystery cult associated with the mythical poet Orpheus and the various poems and songs attributed to him
orphism
believed that the intellectual nature is superior to the sensual nature and that the best life is one devoted to mental discipline
Pythagoras
founded a semi-religious order with rules emphasizing simplicity in speech, dress, and food
pythagoras
group of Greek philosophers who taught rhetoric, logic, and civil affairs
sophist
skeptical of moral absolutes
divided into several schools of thought
sophists
- taught that human judgment is subjective, and that one’s perception is valid only for oneself
sophist protagoras
- went to the extreme of arguing that nothing exists; that if anything does exist, human beings could not know it; and that if they did know it, they could not communicate that knowledge
sophist Gorgias
believes that might makes right
sophist Thrasymachus
- opposed the Sophists
Socrates
according to him
“virtue is knowledge; people will be virtuous if they know what virtue is; and vice, or evil, is the result of ignorance”
Socrates
“education can make people ____
morales
in his Dialogues, he maintains that human virtue lies in the fitness of a person to perform that person’s proper function in the world
Socrates
Socrates explained that the human soul has three elements
intellect
will
emotion
the virtue of ___is wisdom, or knowledge of the ends of life; that of the will is courage, the capacity to act; and that of the emotions is temperance, or self-control
intellect
the ultimate virtue, ____, is the harmonious relation of all the others, each part of the soul doing its appropriate task and keeping its proper place
justice
Socrates maintained that the intellect should be sovereign, the ___second, and the ___ subject to intellect and will
will
emotion
the just person, whose life is ordered in this way (1st intellect, 2nd will, 3rd emotion) , is therefore the ___person
good
Socrates gave rise to four schools of thought build by his immediate disciples
Cynics
Cyenaics
Megarians
Platonist
notable philosopher of cynics
antisthenes
notably the philosopher Antisthenes, maintained that the essence of virtue, the only good, is self-control and that it is capable of being taught;
Cynics
described pleasure as an evil, if accepted as a guide to conduct
Cynics
considered all pride a vice, including pride in appearance or cleanliness
Cynics
notable philosopher of cyrenaics
Aristippus
- notably Aristippus of Cyrene, were hedonists, postulating pleasure as the chief good (as long as it does not dominate one’s life)
cyrenaics
that no one kind of pleasure is superior to another, and that it is measurable only in degree and duration
cyrenaics
megarians are whose followers
Euclids
- Euclid’s followers, posited that although good may be called wisdom, God, or reason, it is “one,” and that good is the final secret of the universe, which can be revealed only through logical inquiry
Megarians
believed that good is an essential element of reality; evil does not exist in itself but is, rather, an imperfect reflection of the real, which is goo
Platonist
Plato’s pupil, regarded happiness as the aim of life
Aristotle
Artistotle’s principal work on Ethics
Nicomachean Ethics
in his principal work on ethics, the Nicomachean Ethics, he defined happiness as activity that accords with the specific nature of humanity
Aristotle
pleasure accompanies such activity but is not its chief aim
which philosopher
Aristotle
results from the unique human attribute of reason, functioning harmoniously with human faculties
happiness
Aristotle held that virtues are essentially good habits, and that to attain happiness a person must develop two kinds of habits
those of mental activity (knowledge)
practical action and emotion (courage)
are habits of action that conform to the golden mean, the principle of moderation, and they must be flexible because of differences among people and conditioning factors
moral values
for example, the amount one should eat depends on one’s size, age, and occupation defines the mean as being between the two extremes of excess and insufficiency; thus, ____ is the mean between prodigality and stinginess
generosity
what virtues (2) are merely means toward the attainment of happiness, which results from the full realization of human potential. according to Aristotle
intellectual
moral
Greek physician, associated with more than 70 works pertaining to medicine;
Hippocrates
in this, in the midst of instructions on how to diagnose various illnesses, he offers the following, As to diseases, make a habit of two things—to help and not to harm
Epidemics I
Hippocrates’ most famous ethical work—although the exact origin of the text is unknown—is the
Hippocratic oath
what part of Hippocratic oath swears doctors to keep patients from harm and injustice
eight paragraph
requires physicians to give their loyalty and support to their fellow physicians, promise to apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick, refuse to provide abortion or euthanasia, and swear not to make improper sexual advances against any members of the household
hippocratic oath
the oath still symbolizes a physician’s duties and obligations
hippocratic oath
the idea of ethical conduct is common in many early texts, including those from Ancient India and China
Asia
believed that medical knowledge was divine or magical in origin
Asia
counterpart of the Hippocratic Oath in Asia
Caraka Samhita
, a Sanskrit text written in India roughly 2,000 years ago, urges the following commandment to physicians
Caraka Samhita
Day and night, however you may be engaged, you shall strive for the relief of the patient with all your heart and soul. You shall not desert the patient even for the sake of your life or living
Caraka Samhita
similar sentiments can be found in the Chinese text
Nei Jing
three centuries later, the work of the Chinese physician ____ ___emphasized compassion and humility, “a great physician should not pay attention to status, wealth, or age…. he should meet everyone on equal ground….”
Sun Simiao
the ethical standards of physicians were put to the test by the bubonic plague, the highly contagious Black Death that arrived around the mid-1300s and remained a threat for centuries
what place
Europe
when plague broke out, physicians had a choice
They could stay and treat the sick—risking death in the process—or flee
the ___ plague and other epidemics provide an early example of the challenges that still exist today when doctors must decide whether they are willing to face personal risks when caring for their patients
bubonic
the emphasis in medical ethics centered on proper, honorable behavior
what time
18th century (Britain)
one of the best-known works from the 18th period is
Medical Ethics/ Code of Institutes and Precepts, Adapted to the Professional Conduct of Physicians and Surgeons
Medical Ethics; or, a Code of Institutes and Precepts, Adapted to the Professional Conduct of Physicians and Surgeons, published in 1803 by the British physician
Thomas Percival
in his 72 precepts, ___ urged a level of care and attention such that doctors would “inspire the minds of their patients with gratitude, respect, and confidence”
Thomas Percival
his ethics, however, also permitted withholding the truth from a patient if the truth might be “deeply injurious to himself, to his family, and to the public”
Thomas Percival
at roughly the same time American physician ___ ____, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was promoting American medical ethics
Benjamin Rush
he spoke of the virtues of generosity, honesty, piety, and service to the poor
Benjamin Rush
it seemed that such virtues were in short supply, and the public generally held physicians in North America in low esteem
what time
19th century
complicating the problem was the existence of a variety of faith healers and other unconventional practitioners who flourished in an almost entirely unregulated medical marketplace
19th century
in part to remedy this situation, physicians convened in 1847 to form a national association devoted to the improvement of standards in medical ___and ___
education
practice
as the group called itself, issued its own code of ethics, stating, “A physician shall be dedicated to providing competent medical service with compassion and respect for human dignity. A physician shall recognize a responsibility to participate in activities contributing to an improved community.”
American Medical Association
established in 1867, also developed a Code of Ethics as a guide for physicians. Today the CMA code provides over 40 guidelines about physician responsibilities to patients, society, and the medical profession
Canadian Medical Association
- the field of medical ethics has struggled to keep pace with the many complex issues raised by new technologies for creating and sustaining life
what time
recent years
artificial-respiration devices, kidney dialysis, and other machines can keep patients alive who previously would have succumbed to their illnesses or injuries
advances in organ transplantation have brought new hope to those afflicted with diseased organs
new techniques have enabled prospective parents to conquer infertility
recent years
rogress in molecular biology and genetics has placed scientists in control of the most basic biochemical processes of life
with the advent of these new technologies, codes of medical ethics have become inadequate or obsolete as new questions and issues continue to confront medical ethicists
recent years
