ETHICAL THOUGHTS

Felipe A. Merano, RN, MSN BIOETHICS

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.

ETHICAL THOUGHTS
KANTIAN ETHICS RAWLS ETHICS ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ROSS ETHICS 7 UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF BIOETHICS

7 UNIVERSAL (MAJOR) PRINCIPLES OF BIOETHICS

AUTONOMY JUSTICE BENEFICENCE NON-MALEFICENCE ROLE FIDELITY VERACITY CONFIDENTIALITY

ETHICAL THOUGHTS
1. KANTIAN ETHICS Kantian ethics is based upon the teachings of the philosopher, Immanuel Kant (17241804)

ETHICAL THOUGHTS
1. KANTIAN ETHICS According to Kant, the concept of motive is the most important 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.

ETHICAL THOUGHTS
1. KANTIAN ETHICS For Kant, a moral action is not based upon feelings or pity. Nor is 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.

ETHICAL THOUGHTS
1. KANTIAN ETHICS
To use an example, with Kantian ethics helping an old lady across the street because 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.

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 problem is 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.

ATTRACTION OF KANTIAN ETHICS

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., be applicable 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

ATTRACTION OF KANTIAN ETHICS

2.1. The Good Will is the only good without qualification. The good will is 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.

ATTRACTION OF KANTIAN ETHICS

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.

ATTRACTION OF KANTIAN ETHICS

C. Some difficulties in interpretation of the Kantian doctrine arise from these further questions: How far should respect for persons proceed? What if you are constantly used by other persons? Does the practical imperative imply that we should have no goals in dealing with other persons and ourselves?

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 merely negative sense of being free from influences on our conduct originating outside of ourselves. It contains first and foremost the idea of laws made and laid down by oneself, and, in virtue of this, laws that have decisive authority over oneself.

KANTIAN ETHICS
Good Will, Moral Worth and Duty Kant'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 thinks of 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

KANTIAN ETHICS
Good Will, Moral Worth and Duty The basic idea is that what makes a good person good is his possession of a will that is in a certain way determined by, or makes its decisions on the basis of, the moral law. The idea of a good will is supposed to be the idea of one who only makes decisions that she holds to be morally worthy, taking moral considerations in themselves to be conclusive reasons for guiding her behavior.

KANTIAN ETHICS
Duty 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 our duty 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

KANTIAN ETHICS
Moral Duty I give that you may do. Facio ut des I do that you may do. Du ut des I do that you may give. Du ut facias I give that you may give Facio ut facias

RAWLS ETHICS
John Rawls is best known for his liberal theory of justice, or justice as fairness. Its defining characteristic is its acknowledgment that society is made up of individuals who 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.

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 least advantaged.

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 and quality 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 conceivable alternatives, such as giving everyone the same grade or handing out grades in accordance with the student's ability to pay.

RAWLS ETHICS
John Rawls' principles of justice. Rawls argues that self-interested rational persons behind the veil of ignorance would choose two general principles of justice to structure society in the real world:

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 liberties for all.

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 of the least advantaged persons, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of equality of opportunity.

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 for already well-paid professionals who come in from the big cities.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

"The ultimate beatitude of man consists in the use of his highest function, which is the operation of his intellect...Hence...the blessed see the essence of God." (Summa Theologica)

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

A Catholic Priest in the Dominican Order and one of the most important Medieval philosophers and theologians. He was immensely influenced by scholasticism and Aristotle and known for his synthesis of the two aforementioned traditions. Although he wrote many works of philosophy and theology throughout his life, his most influential work is the Summa Theologica which consists of three parts

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

The first part is on God. In it, he gives five proofs for Gods existence as well as an explication of His attributes. He argues for the actuality and incorporeality of God as the unmoved mover and describes how God moves through His thinking and willing.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

The second part is on Ethics. Thomas argues for a variation of the Aristotelian Virtue Ethics. However, unlike Aristotle, he argues for a connection between the virtuous man and God by explaining how the virtuous act is one towards the blessedness of the Beatific Vision (beata visio)

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

The last part of the Summa is on Christ and was unfinished when Thomas died. In it, he shows how Christ not only offers salvation, but represents and protects humanity on Earth and in Heaven. This part also briefly discusses the sacraments and eschatology. The Summa remains the most influential of Thomass works and is mostly what will be discussed in this overview of his philosophy.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

1. Translates Aristotle into the Christian Worldview 2. Adds the 'spiritual virtues' of Faith, Love, and Hope 3. 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

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Good is to be done and promoted and evil to be avoided' (ST I-II, 94, 2). Since this rule does not specify what is good, it cannot be further analyzed to find more specific moral rules. It is a principle formally governing practical reasoning and in this sense

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Thomas calls it the first precept of natural law. To determine what are the proximate natural goods for man. Aquinas suggests that reason naturally apprehends as goods 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.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Thomas calls it the first precept of natural law. To determine what are the proximate natural goods for man. Aquinas suggests that reason naturally apprehends as goods 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.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Second are biological goods that men tend towards, 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.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Fourth, Human Law involves those civil laws that govern communities. These civil laws may indeed vary from town to town as long as they don't violate the precepts of Natural Law. Finally, Divine Law pertains to God's special plans for humanity and is revealed through, for example, sacred scripture.

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, the banning of Mass), (4) knowledge, through God's Grace, of our supernatural rewards (as revealed in the New Testament).

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Fourth, Human Law involves those civil laws that govern communities. These civil laws may indeed vary from town to town as long as they don't violate the precepts of Natural Law. Finally, Divine Law pertains to God's special plans for humanity and is revealed through, for example, sacred scripture.