. See Boylan & Brown, Ch. 1 and the handout table of
ethics. Metaethics What is ethical? Normative ethics Value theory [Ethical intuitionism] Action theories Duty based- autonomy, justice [Deontology] Virtue theory [Virtue ethics] Rules/rights- Codes of ethics Cases May be based on paradigm cases [settled
cases] Differences in approaches: Bottom-up: clinicians, scientists, other
stakeholders In-class exercises in understanding each major type of
theory- see Ch 1, pp 2-6 "Popular" views & values can change with time E.g.: Informing patients of their health status &
allowing their right to participate in decision making
process for treatment In mid-1970's: The subject of death began to become
less taboo. Patients wanted to be more informed and to
participate in choosing treatments. .
Origins of ethics: [overhead of Veatch
chart]
Eg: religion, universal, culture
Eg: church traditions, intuition [I'll know
it when I see it], social contract
Values: happiness, health, moral, goodness
Consequence maximizing- Hippocratic utility,
social utility [Utilitarianism]
Virtues: professional, secular, religious based
Some are common; others are more specific to
the source
[See "Virtue" section of table.]
Range of applications- loose to rigid
Range of agreements as well
Application to specific cases
Top-down: philosophers & theorists
Each group presented a summary of the exercise
associated with their chosen theory.
Theory choice: Different people will have different views based
on culture, experience, & beliefs
Prior to 1970's: Physicians rarely told
patients of life-threatening diagnoses &/or of
poor prognosis. It was considered harmful to patient's
sense of well being.
Updated 2/17/03 by thatcher@sonoma.edu