Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Types of Ethical Thoughts
Types of Ethical Thoughts
Thoughts
OBJECTIVES
After 1.5 hrs. of interactive learning
discussion session the BSN 2 student nurses
will be able to acquire knowledge,
beginning skills and develop positive
attitude on the concept types of ethical
thoughts.
◦Specifically they will be able to:
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
1. Discuss the Types of Ethical Thoughts
A. Deontological
B. Utilitarianism
C. Contractarian
D. Teleological
2. Identify the two versions of deontology, those of Immanuel Kant and W.
D. Ross.
A. Kantian Ethics
B. Ross Ethics
3. Differentiate the identified Actual/ prima-facie duty according to W.D.
Ross.
4. Discuss John Rawls’s theory of justice
5. Apply the types of ethical thoughts to bioethical issues.
Deontological Ethics
Deontology
▪states that people should adhere to their obligations and duties
when engaged in decision making when ethics are in play.
▪means that a person will follow his or her obligations to another
individual or society because upholding one’s duty is what is
considered ethically correct.
▪For instance, a deontologist will always keep his promises to a
friend and will follow the law. A person who adheres to
deontological theory will produce very consistent decisions since
they will be based on the individual’s set duties
Deontology
❑It is this emphasis on duty that earns them the
name “deontological”, which is derived from the
Greek word “deon” for “duty” or “obligation”.
❑There are different versions of deontology. We
examine two of them, those of Immanuel Kant
and W. D. Ross.
1. Kantian Ethics
KANTIAN ETHICS
➢Good Intentions come from Good Will
➢The use of Reason to inform Good will help highlight your
Duty in any situation
➢Your duty can be role-based, but also based on categorical
imperatives.
➢You also need your reason to figure out if you are acting by
a universalisable maxim
2. ROSS ETHICS
When is something our duty?
❑ Ross does not propose any general test of obligation like Kant’s
categorical imperative. Instead, Ross falls within the tradition of
“ethical intuitionism”. After a careful examination of the facts
surrounding a case, he believes that we then are able to intuit the
appropriate duty.
❑ Ross claims that our experience with such cases puts us in a
position to come to know our prima facie duties with the same
degree of certainty as when we grasp the mathematical truth that a
triangle has three angles.
❑Furthermore, according to Ross, our experience of many
individual cases puts us in a position to recognize the validity
of a general statement like “It is wrong to cause needless
pain.” We come to see such rules in much the same way that
we come to recognize the letter A after having seen it written or
printed in a variety of handwritings or typefaces.
Application to Bioethics
In August 2000, conjoined twins, named Mary and Jodie
were born in a hospital in Manchester England. Their spines
were fused, and they had one heart and one pair of lungs
between them. Jodie, the stronger one, was providing blood
for her sister.
The prognosis was that without intervention, both girls would
die within six months. The only hope was an operation to
separate them. This would save Jodie, but Mary would die
immediately.
Thus, there were two options:
(a) Not intervene and see both babies die Or
(b) Intervene and save one life, Jodie.
❑What is the acceptable course of action?
Application to Bioethics
❑In the example of Mary and Jodie, Ross would answer the
question of whether it is right or wrong to separate the twins by
first seeing which of the prima facie duties are applicable and,
in the event their is a conflict, examine the non-moral facts of
the case, and with these facts as background, weigh the duties
against one another.
❑In considering the case, the duties of non-malfeasance and
beneficence seems relevant and it is plausible to read them as
implying that their is an obligation to separate the twins.
Deontology
▪Deontology contains many positive attributes, but it
also contains flaws. One flaw is that there is no
rationale or logical basis for deciding an individual’s
duties.
Deontology
▪For instance, a businessperson may decide that it is
his/her duty to always be on time to meetings.
Although this appears to be something good, we do
not know why the person chose to make this his duty.
Question 1: