APPLIED ETHICS

Categorization:
One way of categorizing the field of ethics (as a study of morality) is by distinguishing
between its three branches.
Metaethics:- deals with whether morality exists or not.
Normative ethics:-
It usually assuming an affirmative answer to the existence question, deals with
the reasoned construction of moral principles, and at its highest level, determines
what the fundamental principle of morality is.
Normative ethics is concerned with principles of morality. This branch itself can
be divide into various sub-branches (and in various ways): consequentialist
theories, deontological theories, and virtue-based theories.

Applied Ethics
Applied ethics, usually assuming an affirmative answer to the existence question,

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addresses the moral permissibility of specific actions and practices.

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Deals with difficult moral questions and controversial moral issues that people

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actually face in their lives. di
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It is often referred to as a component study of the wider sub-discipline of ethics

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within the discipline of philosophy.

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Examples: the moral issues regarding Abortion, euthanasia giving to the poor,
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sex before marriage, the death penalty, gay/lesbian marriage (or other rights)
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war tactics, censorship, etc.

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Fields of Applied Ethics: business ethics, bioethics, environmental ethics, machine

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ethics, etc.
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Business Ethics:
Ethics is a study of morality, and business practices are fundamental to human
existence, dating back at least to agrarian society, if not even to pre-agrarian existence.
Business ethics then is a study of the moral issues that arise when human beings
exchange goods and services, where such exchanges are fundamental to our daily
existence.
For example:
Adulteration of food:- Monetary Profit vs Health of an individual
Medical: Profit making vs service to the mankind (Hippocratic Oath)
Workplace: issues of sexual harassment by an employee vs valuable asset to the
company
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment vs Development
 Poker Analogy Argument Deception in Business

Poker Analogy Argument: It goes something like this:

(1) Deception in poker is morally permissible, perhaps morally required.
(2) Business is like poker.
(3) Therefore, deception in business is morally permissible.

Bioethics
Bioethics should be understood as a study of morality as it concerns issues dealing with
the biological issues and facts concerning ourselves, and our close relatives, for
examples, almost any non-human animal that is sentient.
For Example: beginning of life issues, including abortion; end of life issues, for example
euthanasia; and ethical concerns doing medical research, as well as availability of

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medical care.

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Abortion: Right or Wrong?
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So long as a fetus is a person (or counts morally), it would be morally wrong to
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abort it. However, other argument is that - even with a fetus being a person, with
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all of the rights we would confer to any other person, it would still be permissible
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to abort, under certain conditions.

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circumstances that she was raped, even with the granting that the aborted fetus
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is a full-fledged person.
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In India, under the new rules, seven specific categories will be eligible for
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termination of pregnancy up to 24 weeks:

o survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest;
o minors;
o change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy (widowhood and
divorce);
o women with physical disabilities;
o mentally ill women;
o foetal malformation that has a substantial risk of being incompatible with
life or if the child is born, he/ she may suffer from serious physical or
mental abnormalities;
o women with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disaster or emergency
situations
Pros:
Right to Privacy: It
terminate her pregnancy.
Right to Equality: Reproductive choice empowers women by giving them control over their
own bodies. The choice over when and
independence and ability to determine her future. The ability of women to participate equally
in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their
reproductive lives. Undue restrictions on abortion infringe upon
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Rational Argument:
the womb) or after birth, not at conception. Embryos and fetuses are not independent, self-

is calculated from birth date, not conception.

Fetuses are incapable of feeling pain when most abortions are performed. The cortex does not

abortions are performed. Modern abortion procedures are safe and do not cause lasting health
issues such as cancer and infertility.
Legal Permission: Access to legal, professionally-performed abortions reduces maternal

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injury and death caused by unsafe, illegal abortions. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy

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(MTP) Act, 1971 provides the legal framework for making comprehensive abortion care

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services available in India, permitting the termination of pregnancy, for a broad range of

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conditions, up to 20 weeks of gestation, by registered medical practitioners. Pregnancies
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beyond 20 weeks may only be terminated with special permission from the courts.
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Availability of new technologies: Modern abortion procedures are safe and do not cause
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lasting health issues such as cancer and infertility.

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Mental Health Perspective: Women who receive abortions are less likely to suffer mental
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health problems than women denied abortions. Abortion gives pregnant women the option to
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choose not to bring fetuses with profound abnormalities to full term.

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Unemployment and Domestic violence: Women who are denied abortions are more likely to
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become unemployed, to be on public welfare, to be below the poverty line, and to become
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victims of domestic violence.

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Future wellbeing of the baby: A baby should not come into the world unwanted. Having a
child is an important decision that requires consideration, preparation, and planning. The
unintended pregnancies are associated with birth defects, low birth weight, maternal
depression, increased risk of child abuse, lower educational attainment, delayed entry into
prenatal care, a high risk of physical violence during pregnancy, and reduced rates of
breastfeeding.
Abortion reduces crime: legalized abortion has contributed significantly to recent crime
reductions. Women who have abortions are those most at risk to give birth to children who
would engage in cri
were more likely to raise children in optimal environments, crime is reduced when there is
access to legal abortion.
A bench headed by Justice J.S. Khehar said:
the clear findings of the medical board whose examination showed that contained
Cons:
Abortion is Immoral: The killing of an innocent human being is wrong, even if that human
being has yet to be born. It is immoral to kill an unborn child for convenience.
Right to Life: Life begins at conception, so unborn babies are human beings with a right to life.
Against the Will of God: Abortion is the killing of a human being, which defies the word of
God. Traditional Buddhism rejects abortion because it involves the deliberate destroying of a
life. The Bible does not draw a distinction between fetuses and babies: the Greek word brephos
is used in the Bible to refer to both an unborn child and an infant.
Abortions cause psychological damage: The women who underwent an abortion had

years after the pregnancy termination.

Abortions reduce the number of adoptable babies: Instead of having the option to abort,
women should give their unwanted babies to people who cannot conceive.
Overt discrimination: with disabilities less than human.
The original text of the Hippocratic Oath, traditionally taken by doctors when
swearing to practice medicine ethically, forbids abortion.
Abortion promotes a culture in which human life is disposable.
Social Perspective: Abortion eliminates the potential societal contributions of a future human
being.
Abortion may lead to future medical problems for the mother.

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Increase in female-foeticide: the demand of baby boy led to increase in female-foeticide. This

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in-turn affecting the sex ratio.

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The Horrific story of remote village on the border of Punjab and Haryana about female-
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foeticide:
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Dr Harshindar Kaur was on her way to a remote village on the border of Punjab and Haryana.
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The villagers in this area were deprived of even basic medical facilities and Dr Kaur, a child
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specialist, along with her medical specialist husband, Dr Gurpal Singh, volunteered to serve in a
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camp.
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The village was just minutes away when the couple heard strange shrieks coming from an area
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reserved for the carcasses of animals. Curious about the source of the noise, Kaur and Singh
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changed directions and headed towards the dumping ground. What they witnessed was
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nothing short of horrific.

They saw a few stray dogs tearing apart some living thing, and the shrieks were coming from
there. On further investigation, we beheld a shocking site. There, atop a heap of bones, lay a
newborn girl who was then dead. The scavenging dogs had torn her apart.
Shaken at that gory scene, the couple approached the villagers, questioning as to how this
could happen.
It was even more shocking for them when one of the villagers indifferently told them that the
baby might have belonged to a poor family who probably did not want a daughter.
Although the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT) had been
passed in 1994, thousands of female foeticide cases were recorded in the two states every year.
Between 1996 and 1998, 51,000 sex-selective abortions were recorded in Punjab and 62,000
in Haryana.
Source:
https://abortion.procon.org/
https://www.thebetterindia.com/177512/punjab-woman-hero-fight-female-foeticide-india/
 SURROGACY
Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to bear
a child for another person or persons, who will become the child's parent after birth.
Pros:
An act of Compassion: Surrogate mothers are usually women who are caring and
compassionate with a strong urge to help those in need. Making it possible for those who
struggle with infertility to have a baby and complete their family can be a life changing
experience, resulting in happiness and satisfaction for everyone involved.
Surrogacy completes families: For those who have struggled with infertility, LGBT couples,
and those with medical conditions that make pregnancy unsafe, surrogacy is often the answer
to years of unsuccessful attempts to create a family.
Feeling of joy or happiness: Most women who chose to become a surrogate mother truly
enjoy being pregnant. One requirement for surrogates is to already be a mother. By choosing to
carry for someone else, you can enjoy the experience of being pregnant once more without the
duty of having to raise the child yourself.
Emotional Bonding: Gestational surrogacy often enables one or both parents to maintain a
biological relationship with their child.
Financial Perspective: Gestational carriers receive a financial compensation for their
commitment, time and risks involved.

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Legal Protection:

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negotiated and signed prior to the embryo transfer, so everyone will know exactly what to

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expect during the surrogacy process. A court order is obtained prior to birth of the child,
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Cons:
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Physically and emotionally demanding: Choosing to be a surrogate is an emotional

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challenge. Carrying a baby for someone else is a big responsibility and most surrogates will
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experience ups and downs throughout their journey. In addition to the typical physical
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challenges of pregnancy, you will need to undergo additional screenings, appointments,

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fertility treatments, and more.

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Life at Stake: Just as any other pregnancy, there is always a risk involved in carrying a child.
pregnancy
complications that could have a negative effect on your health.
Stigmatization: Although attitudes of the majority of people are becoming more positive
towards surrogacy, there are still those who hold negative thoughts towards the idea of
surrogate mothers. A lack of information, misconceptions and social stigma can result in some
people close to you not giving you the support you were hoping for.
Financial Factor: Because of the number of people and services required to complete a
successful surrogacy, surrogacy can be expensive.
Feminist concerns: Ethics also come into play when thinking about the gendered nature of
surrogacy and intended parenting. Biologically, the surrogate has to be someone with the
capacity to gestate and give birth usually a woman. As gendered labour, surrogacy triggers
important feminist concerns, such as about bodily autonomy, vulnerability, inequality and
rights.
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men using a similar process as for non-pregnant women. (It has been used for a
transgender woman who wanted to breastfeed recently too). For feminists worried
 about unequal gender roles in parenting in general, this could be further ammunition
for dispelling myths about wom
capacities.
Exploitation: The UK, Ukraine, US, Australia and India have different regulations about
surrogacy. Some countries see the surrogate, while others the intended mother, as the
legitimate mother. Some favour altruistic forms of surrogacy, while others allow commercial
forms. Some countries give parental rights to intended parents before or at the birth of the
child, while others only after six weeks.
In particular, the country-specific approach opens up the potential to exploit legal
loopholes, intended parents, and, ultimately those doing the majority of the labour
surrogates.
For E.g. in Chennai, a single mother of two decided to become a surrogate mother in the
hope that the payment would help her start a shop near her house. She delivered a
healthy child, but her troubles bore little fruit for herself. She received only about Rs
75,000, which comprised only 50 per cent of the total sum. An auto-rickshaw driver,
who served as a middleman, took the rest of the money.

Source:
https://familytreesurrogacy.com/blog/pros-cons-surrogate/

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https://southernsurrogacy.com/surrogacy-information/the-challenges-and-rewards-of-

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surrogacy-for-everyone-involved/

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https://themitpost.com/india-debates-the-surrogacy-law/
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https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/thebirminghambrief/items/2018/09/the-ethics-of-
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surrogacy.aspx
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Clinical trial
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The potential benefits of participating in a clinical trial may include the following:
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Access to promising new treatments often not available outside the clinical-trial setting
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Treatment that may be more effective than the standard approach

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Close monitoring, advice, care, and support by a research team of doctors and other health care
professionals who understand your disease or condition
The opportunity to be the first to benefit from a new method under study
The chance to play an active role in your own health care and gain a greater understanding of
your disease or condition
The chance to help society by contributing to medical research. Even if you don't directly
benefit from the results of the clinical trial you take part in, the information gathered can help
others and adds to scientific knowledge. People who take part in clinical trials are vital to the
process of improving medical care.
The potential risks of participating in a clinical trial may include the following:
The clinical trial may require more time than a non-clinical trial treatment such as more visits
to the clinical trial site, more treatments, hospital stays, etc.
There may be unpleasant, serious or life threatening side effects to experimental treatments.
Role of ethics in clinical trials:
Ethical considerations have a multiplicity of roles during the conduct of clinical trials. These
roles span a broad range from matters related to the design of a study, to the conduct and
even to the reporting of the results obtained.
Philosophical, legal and even religious and moral beliefs have a direct influence on the ethical

disease or state thereof, have, in the past, heavily influenced all ethical considerations when
treating subjects and when approaching them to be included into clinical trials.
A large number and a significant variety of issues come to the fore when preparing to conduct a
clinical trial. Many of them are easier to pinpoint and deal with by means of precise rules.
These include the issues of conflicts of interest such as the one already noted above on the
potential conflict of the role of the clinician as an investigator. Others are more subtle such as
the vested interest of the investigator to publish, to gain prestige, to yield to commercial
pressures and interest.
Other important point is that the lives of participants in clinical trials are at stake. For e.g. Six
people died during trials of the coronavirus vaccine produced by the American

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Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

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Euthanasia can be termed as the intentional killing of another person, where the intention is to benefit
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that person by ending their life, and that it, in fact, does benefit their life.
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Voluntary euthanasia is where the person killed consents to it.

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Involuntary euthanasia is where the person actively expresses that they do not give their
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consent, or where consent was possible but where they were not asked.
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Non-voluntary euthanasia is where consent is not possible for example, the person is in a
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vegetative state.
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Active euthanasia involves doing something to the person which then ends their life, for
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example, shooting them, or injecting them with a lethal does.

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Passive euthanasia involves denying assistance or treatment to the person that they would
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need to otherwise live.

E.g. Smothering a person with a pillow would be active, even if it technically denies them
something they need to live that is, oxygen. Refusing to continue a breathing device, by
unplugging the person from the device, would be passive.
For:
Matter of Right: The right to die should be a matter of personal choice.
When healing is no longer possible, when death is imminent and

Voluntary death from the historical and philosophical perspective-: Hinduism and
Buddhism allow prayopaveshan since it is a non violent, calm and much time taking way of
ending life and it occurs by starving oneself to death at the right time, i. . when the person has
achieved his aims in life and finished performing all the duties and responsibilities that were
assigned to him and his body becomes a burden.
Active euthanasia is more humane than passive: For E.g. if the only way to end the life of a
terminally ill person is by denying them life-supporting measures, perhaps by unplugging them
 from a feeding tube, where it will take weeks, if not months for them to die, then this seems
less humane, and perhaps outright cruel, in comparison to just injecting them with a lethal
dose.

Against:
Hippocratic Oath:

A terminal diagnosis is rarely predicted: The Mayo Clinic discovered that only one of every
five patients received a correct number during a 2005 analysis of terminal disease diagnoses.
17 percent of people in this situation live for much longer than the doctor initially
recommends. That is why, even though legal definitions allow for its use, euthanasia is met
with such resistance. What else is possible if one in every five people overcomes their
diagnosis?
Loss of Dignity: Most patients request the lethal drugs not due to pain (or even fear of future
attitudes
that these laws encourage.
Responsibility of killing an individual: Euthanasia could readily be extended to incompetent
patients and other vulnerable populations. The involvement of physicians in euthanasia
heightens the significance of its ethical prohibition. The physician who performs euthanasia

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Threat to the lives of vulnerable: Legalizing euthanasia would have a wide range of

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profoundly detrimental effects. It would diminish the protection offered to the lives of all. It
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would allow the killing of people who do not genuinely volunteer to be killed, and any
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safeguards, although initially observed, would inevitably weaken over time.
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Following points should be kept in mind while allowing euthanasia:

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1. The request for euthanasia must come only from the patient and must be entirely free and
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voluntary.
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dered, durable and persistent.

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3. The patient must be experiencing intolerable (not necessarily physical) suffering, with no prospect
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of improvement.
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considered and found wanting.

5. Euthanasia must be performed by a physician.
6. The physician must consult with an independent physician colleague who has experience in this
field.
 Euthanasia and Dignity in Kantian Perspectives:

Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, argued that human beings are rational so we have a choice to do

vidual intentional action. It is our personal choice to do our maxim. His major
metaphor is categorical imperative which means unconditional command.

Whatever be the situation, the physician should perform his duty well. His goodwill is also known as

from thinking about the death.

Aruna Shanbaug case:

Aruna Shanbaug was a nurse working at the King Edward Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai. On 27
November 1973 she was strangled and sodomized by Sohanlal Walmiki, a sweeper.
During the attack she was strangled with a chain, and the deprivation of oxygen has left her in a

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vegetative state ever since. She has been treated at KEM since the incident and is kept alive by feeding

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tube.

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On behalf of Aruna, her friend Pinki Virani, a social activist, filed a petition in the Supreme Court arguing

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that the "continued existence of Aruna is in violation of her right to live in dignity".
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The Supreme Court made its decision on 7 March 2011. The court rejected the plea to discontinue
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Aruna's life support but issued a set of broad guidelines legalising passive euthanasia in India.
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The Supreme Court's decision to reject the discontinuation of Aruna's life support was based on the fact
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that the hospital staff who treat and take care of her did not support euthanizing her.
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She died from pneumonia on 18 May 2015, after being in a coma for a period of 42 years.
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Environmental Ethics
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Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship
of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its
non-human contents.
This covers:
(1) the challenge of environmental ethics to the anthropocentrism (i.e., human-
centeredness) embedded in traditional western ethical thinking;
(2) the early development of the discipline in the 1960s and 1970s;
(3) the connection of deep ecology, feminist environmental ethics, animism and social
ecology to politics;
(4) the attempt to apply traditional ethical theories, including consequentialism,
deontology, and virtue ethics, to support contemporary environmental concerns;
(5) the preservation of biodiversity as an ethical goal;
(6) the broader concerns of some thinkers with wilderness, the built environment and
the politics of poverty;
(7) the ethics of sustainability and climate change;
(8) some directions for possible future developments of the discipline.

Why it is important to study the Environment Ethics?

Global warming, global climate change, deforestation, pollution, resource
degradation, the threat of extinction are few of the issues from which our planet
is suffering.
Environmental ethics are a key feature of environmental studies that establishes
the relationship between humans and the earth.
With environmental ethics, you can ensure that you are doing your part to keep
the environment safe and protected.

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1. Deep Ecology Ethics: biospheric

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egalitarianism that all living things are alike in having value in their

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own right, independent of their usefulness to others. The deep ecologist respects
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this intrinsic value, taking care, for example, when walking on the
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mountainside not to cause unnecessary damage to the plants.

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2. Feminism and the Environment: Human exploitation of nature may be seen as

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a manifestation and extension of the oppression of women, in that it is the result

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of associating nature with the female, which had been already inferiorized and
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oppressed by the male-dominating culture.

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- Women play a critical role in managing natural resources on family

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and community levels and are most affected by environmental

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degradation.
- In communities around the world, women manage water, sources for
fuel, and food, as well as both forests and agricultural terrain. Women
produce 60 to 80 percent of food in developing countries, while
inheritance laws and local customs often prevent them from owning
or leasing land and securing loans or insurance.
- From the high level to the grassroots, the 1992 UN Earth Summit,
all

sustainable development.
3. Development vs Environment: Environment vs. development is a multifaceted

year after year. We have more polluted areas on our planet, more polluted rivers,
fewer trees that produce oxygen. On the other hand, can we stop development
and progress in various fields?
 - Natural resources are renewable. Therefore, it is necessary to take
care of the people in need. However, humans already wasted enough
natural resources, so wasting more will put the Earth at risk.
- Economic growth is needed to meet the basic needs of the growing
population in developing countries.
- Developing countries should not tell poorer countries to make
conservation their priority, as it will be hypocritical from their side.
However, more developed countries should look after more fragile
countries.

Narmada Bachao Andolan:

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is an Indian social movement spearheaded by
native tribals (adivasis), farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists
against a number of large dam projects across the Narmada River, which flows
through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on the river and was one

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of the first focal points of the movement. It is part of the Narmada Dam Project,

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whose main aim is to provide irrigation and electricity to people of the above

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states.
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The mode of campaign under NBA includes court actions, hunger strikes, rallies
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and gathering support from notable film and art personalities. The NBA, with its
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leading spokespersons Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, received the Right
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Livelihood Award in 1991.

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AAREY FOREST PROTEST:

The Aarey colony protests began on October 5, 2019 after the Bombay High Court
allowed the Mumbai Metro to cut nearly 2,500 trees to build a car shed for the
Mumbai Metro. The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) began to cut down
trees in the area merely hours after the HC order, a move that faced resistance
from citizens and environmental activists. The Mumbai police arrested close to 29
people on charges of allegedly obstructing and assaulting police personnel.
The Supreme Court recorded an undertaking by the Maharashtra state
government, in which it assured that no more trees will be felled in Aarey. The
that Aarey was some kind of forest at

National Park, which describes Aarey as an unclassified forest.

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