L03: Moral Status Flashcards
What are the 6 grounds for moral concern
Humanity Autonomous Sentience Personhood Potentiality Patient
What is the humanity model about
There is a natural hierarchy of living being and humans can do more complex things so if you are rationale then you are worthwhile considering
What defines human
Genetics i.e homosapiens who produce fertile species Ownership Community Altruism Empathy
What is the problem with defining humans with genetics
If you have chromosomal disorder so cannot produce fertile species does this mean you are not a concern?
What is the autonomous theory about
The only thing that has value is someone who is able to express good will
And
Anything that is not human/autonomous cannot have a good will so we cannot be concerned
What is the meaning of sentience
The capacity to experience positively or negatively valence awareness
Does being sentient have direct moral status
Yes
Are animals sentient
Yes
If animals are sentient does this mean they have direct moral status under the sentience theory
Yes
What are the limitations of sentience
When people do no feel pleasure or pain
Who disagrees with the sentience theory
Rene descartes
What does Rene descarte state
That you cannot tell whether an animal has sentinent e.g an animal may look conscious but may not be
What is the person hood moral status about
Being a person is not biological, it is the ability to have continous mental states. So if mental state is no longer possible patient may no longer be a person
When does the person hood theory play a role
When deciding someone is dead
What is the potentiality theory about
Someone are something that is able to achieve something is worthy of our concern
Give an example of someone who has a the potential to achieve
Baby
What is a limitation of the potentiality theory
Elderly who have lived with dementia
What is the patient theory about
All healthcare professional have duties to patients irrespective of the philosophical status of a patient
What is death
When heart stops
Lungs that stop breathing
Damage is irreversible
What are the exceptions to death
Brainstem death
Persistent vegetative state
What is brainstem death
When the heart beats but other functions are dysregulated such as respiration, brain function, fluid balance, temperature control
Biologically is brain stem death considered to be death even though the heart is still beating
It is still consider legally as death
What can brainstem death allow
Organ donation
What is persistent vegetative state
When the brainstem remains but the midbrain and cortex are non functional
What type of death is persistent vegetative state
Biographical death
Does the basic biological functions remain in persistent vegetative state
Yes
What is biographical death
The areas of the brain that made that person a person has gone
What is the chance of recovery of persistent vegetative death
0
What is minimally conscious state
A condition that severely altered conscious in which minimi all but definit behavioural evidence of self is demonstrated
How do we diagnose minimally conscious state
Using a pet scan
What does a pet scan show for those with minimal conscious state
Motor cortex lights up
What are the chances of recovery of minimal conscious state compared to persistent vegetative state
Better
