Ethical Thoughts

7/28/2019 Ethical Thoughts

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ETHICAL THOUGHTSFelipe A. Merano, RN, MSN

BIOETHICS


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Objectives

To determine the origin of the established

ethical thought of bioethics.

To differentiate the ethical thoughts used

in nursing.

To determine the application of ethical

thoughts in nursing and other in other field.


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ETHICAL THOUGHTS

KANTIAN ETHICS

RAWLS ETHICS

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ROSS ETHICS

7 UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF

BIOETHICS


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7 UNIVERSAL (MAJOR)

PRINCIPLES OF BIOETHICS

AUTONOMY

JUSTICE

BENEFICENCE NON-MALEFICENCE

ROLE FIDELITY

VERACITY CONFIDENTIALITY


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ETHICAL THOUGHTS

1. KANTIAN ETHICS

Kantian ethics is based upon the

teachings of the philosopher,Immanuel Kant (17241804)


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ETHICAL THOUGHTS

1. KANTIAN ETHICS

According to Kant, the concept

ofmotive is the mostimportant factor in determining

what is ethical. More specifically,

Kant argued that a moral action

is one that is performed out of a

sense of duty.


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ETHICAL THOUGHTS

1. KANTIAN ETHICS

For Kant, a moral action is not

based upon feelings or pity. Noris it is not based on the

possibility of reward. Instead, a

moral action is one based on a

sense of This is what I ought to

do.


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ETHICAL THOUGHTS

1. KANTIAN ETHICS

To use an example, with Kantian ethics

helping an old lady across the streetbecause you feel pity for her is NOT a

moral act. Likewise, helping an old lady

because your coworker will think highly

of you is NOT a moral act. However,

helping an old lady because you have a

sense of duty to help the elderly IS a

moral act.


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ATTRACTION OF KANTIAN ETHICS

1. If the purpose of life were just to achieve

happiness, then we would all seek

pleasure and gratification and hope that

it would lead to happiness. The problemis that happiness is not totally within our

power to achieve; to a large extent,

happiness is a matter of luck.Consequently, being happy and being

good are two different things.


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2. If we are to avoid skepticism or even

nihilism and our ethics is to be rationally

based, it must be unconditional (i.e., have

no exceptions) and be universal (i.e., beapplicable to all human beings).

Skepticism refers to any questioning attitude of knowledge,facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts

Nihilism - that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or

intrinsic value
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purposehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_value_%28ethics%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_value_%28ethics%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purpose


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2.1. The Good Will is the only good without

qualification.

The good willis a will that acts for the sake

of duty, as a "good-in-itself.

2.2. Duty is the necessity of acting out of

reverence for universal law. Moral value is

essentially established by the intention of

the person acting.


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2.3.Practical Imperative: "Act to treat

humanity, whether yourself or another, as

an end-in-itself and never as a means."

A. Don't use people in order to obtain your

goals or seek an edge or unfair

advantage.

B. People have rights which would

supersede, for example, the tyranny of the

majority in utilitarianism.


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C. Some difficulties in interpretation of the

Kantian doctrine arise from these further

questions: How far should respect for

persons proceed? What if you areconstantly used by other persons? Does

the practical imperative imply that we

should have no goals in dealing with otherpersons and ourselves?


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KANTIAN ETHICS

Autonomy: At the heart of Kant's moral theory

is the position that rational human wills are

autonomous. The idea of freedom as

autonomy thus goes beyond the merelynegative sense of being free from

influences on our conduct originating outside

of ourselves. It contains first and foremostthe idea of laws made and laid down by

oneself, and, in virtue of this, laws that have

decisive authority over oneself.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/


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KANTIAN ETHICS

Good Wil l, Moral Worth and DutyKant's analysis of commonsense ideas

begins with the thought that the only thing

good without qualification is a good will.While the phrases he's good hearted,

she's good natured and she means well

are common, the good will as Kant thinksof it is not the same as any of these

ordinary notions. The idea of a good will

is closer to the idea of a good person, or,

more archaically, a person of good will


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KANTIAN ETHICS

Good Wil l, Moral Worth and DutyThe basic idea is that what makes a good

person good is his possession of a will

that is in a certain way determined by, ormakes its decisions on the basis of, the

moral law. The idea of a good will is

supposed to be the idea of one who onlymakes decisions that she holds to be

morally worthy, taking moral considera-

tions in themselves to be conclusive

reasons for guiding her behavior.


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KANTIAN ETHICSDuty and Respect for Moral Law

According to Kant, what is singular about motivation

by duty is that it consists of bare respect for

lawfulness. What naturally comes to mind is this:

Duties are created by rules or laws of some sort.For instance, the bylaws of a club lay down

duties for its officers. City and state laws

establish the duties of citizens. Thus, if we do

something because it is our civic duty, or ourduty as a boy scout or a good Filipino, our

motivation is respect for the code that makes it

our duty. Thinking we are duty bound is simply

respecting certain laws pertaining to us


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KANTIAN ETHICSMoral Duty

I give that you may do.

Facio u t des

I do that you may do. Du ut des

I do that you may give.

Du u t faciasI give that you may give

Facio u t facias


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RAWLS ETHICS

John Rawls is best known for his liberaltheory of justice, or justice as fairness.

Its defining characteristic is its acknowledg-

ment that society is made up of individualswho espouse many disparate beliefs and

conceptions of 'the good.' Government of

a society which is based on certain

conceptions of the good-- religious, moral,

etc-- causes problems because people

whose views differ end up straight

disrespected by law.


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RAWLS ETHICS

The principals Rawls arrives at are:1) Each person shall be allowed the most

extensive scheme of liberty compatible

with a similar scheme for everyone else.2) Offices of power shall be attached to

positions open to all.

3) Inequality must benefit the leastadvantaged.


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RAWLS ETHICS

The principals Rawls arrives at are:For example, the practice of grading students for their

performance in academic courses now includes a

merit principle for determining most grades: the grade

a student receives should reflect the quantity andquality of her work. It might be said in defense of such

traditions that they have survived because they have

proven more satisfactory to the parties affected,

considered collectively, than other conceivablealternatives, such as giving everyone the same grade

or handing out grades in accordance with the

student's ability to pay.


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RAWLS ETHICS

John Rawls' principles of justice. Rawls argues that self-interested rational

persons behind the veil of ignorance

would choose two general principles ofjustice to structure society in the real

world:


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RAWLS ETHICS

John Rawls' principles of justice.1) Principle of Equal Liberty: Each person

has an equal right to the most extensive

liberties compatible with similar libertiesfor all.


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RAWLS ETHICS

John Rawls' principles of justice.2) Difference Principle: Social and economic

inequalities should be arranged so that

they are both (a) to the greatest benefit ofthe least advantaged persons, and (b)

attached to offices and positions open to

all under conditions of equality of

opportunity.


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RAWLS ETHICS

John Rawls' principles of justice.Example: policies that permit nuclear power

plants which degrade the environment for

nearby family farmers but provide jobs foralready well-paid professionals who come

in from the big cities.


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

"The ultimate beatitude of

man consists in the use

of his highest function,

which is the operation ofhis intellect...Hence...the

blessed see the essence

of God."

(Summa Theologica)


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

A Catholic Priest in the Dominican Order andone of the most important Medieval

philosophers and theologians. He was

immensely influenced by scholasticismand Aristotle and known for his synthesis

of the two aforementioned traditions.

Although he wrote many works of

philosophy and theology throughout hislife, his most influential work is the Summa

Theologica which consists of three parts


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

The first part is on God. In it, he gives fiveproofs for Gods existence as well as an

explication of His attributes. He argues for

the actuality and incorporeality of God asthe unmoved mover and describes how

God moves through His thinking and

willing.


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

The second part is on Ethics. Thomas arguesfor a variation of the Aristotelian Virtue

Ethics. However, unlike Aristotle, he

argues for a connection between thevirtuous man and God by explaining how

the virtuous act is one towards the

blessedness of the Beatific Vision (beata

visio)


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

The last part of the Summa is on Christ andwas unfinished when Thomas died. In it,

he shows how Christ not only offers

salvation, but represents and protectshumanity on Earth and in Heaven. This

part also briefly discusses the sacraments

and eschatology. The Summa remains the

most influential ofThomass works and ismostly what will be discussed in this

overview of his philosophy.


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

1. Translates Aristotle into the ChristianWorldview

2. Adds the 'spiritual virtues' of Faith, Love,

and Hope3. Distinguishes between 'Eternal Law,'

'Natural Law,' 'Human Law' and 'Divine

Law'4. Natural Law prescribes the fundamental

precepts of morality and is grasped

through reason and conscience


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Good is to be done and promoted and evil tobe avoided' (ST I-II, 94, 2). Since this rule

does not specify what is good, it cannot be

further analyzed to find more specificmoral rules. It is a principle formally

governing practical reasoning and in this

sense


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Thomas calls it the first precept of naturallaw. To determine what are the proximate

natural goods for man. Aquinas suggests

that reason naturally apprehends asgoods those objects that satisfy man's

basic inclinations. On the lowest level are

those physical goods that all beings

incline to, such as self-preservation.


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Thomas calls it the first precept of naturallaw. To determine what are the proximate

natural goods for man. Aquinas suggests

that reason naturally apprehends asgoods those objects that satisfy man's

basic inclinations. On the lowest level are

those physical goods that all beings

incline to, such as self-preservation.


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Second are biological goods that men tendtowards, as do all living things: the

procreation and care of offspring, for

instance.In the third and highest place he puts those

values that satisfy man as a rational

being: the knowledge of truth about God

and the advantage of living in the society

of other humans.


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Fourth, Human Lawinvolves those civil lawsthat govern communities. These civil laws

may indeed vary from town to town as

long as they don't violate the precepts ofNatural Law.

Finally, Divine Lawpertains to God's special

plans for humanity and is revealed

through, for example, sacred scripture.


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Examples of these 'laws' could be(1) the law of gravity as governing the motion of

physical objects,

(2) prohibition of artificial birth control as violating

our natural tendency toward procreation,

(3) laws regulating the traffic in a particular city and

disobedience with regard to laws that seek to

destroy religious faith (through, for example, thebanning of Mass),

(4) knowledge, through God's Grace, of our

supernatural rewards (as revealed in the New

Testament).


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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Fourth, Human Lawinvolves those civil lawsthat govern communities. These civil laws

may indeed vary from town to town as

long as they don't violate the precepts ofNatural Law.

Finally, Divine Lawpertains to God's special

plans for humanity and is revealed

through, for example, sacred scripture.


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Ethical Thoughts