Virtue ethics
- rightness of actions is based on virtues
- virtue is derived from greek work meaning excellence
- set human flourishing as the highest goal of humanity
- goal-oriented not rule guided
- virtue ethics insist that we aspire to moral excellence that we cultivate the virtues that will make us better people
- possessing the right virtues means having the proper motivations that naturally accompany those virtues
Aristotle
Nicomachean Ethics
- defines virtues as a habitus (good habit) or a disposition of the character to aim at the good
Aristotle recognised 3 main criteria for designing virtuous actions
- the model of the wise person (phronimos)
- the measure of the golden mean (mesotes)
- the faculty of the right (practical) reason (orthos logos)
Eudaimonia (flourishing)
- virtue ethics is teleological since it maintains that human beings pursue a telos (purpose)
- eudaemonia refers to happiness, prosperity, or bliss
teleological - eudaimonia
- the study of the purpose of events or natural phenomena
- the explanation for events or natural phenomena, especially in terms of purpose or final cause
telos - eudaimonia
- the end of a goal-oriented process
how to act morally
- we must act from virtue and acting from virtue means acting with the appropriate motives
- it is not enough to do right, we must do right for the right motivating reasons
Possible resolution using virtue ethics
Step 1 - identify relevant virtues
- compassion: understanding marias
finish this - I have the photos
critique of virtue ethics
- its personal and hardly collective or political
- present difficulties of being promoted as an interesting ethic for policymakers
whats a moral/ethical principle?
- a principle is a general rule or standard to guide moral conduct
- as ethical analysis requires justification, principles help us justify out choices, our actions
- In the name if what –> given principle
the principle of nonmaleficence
we should avoid causing needless harm to others by our actions
the principle of beneficence
we should promote the welfare of others by our actions
the principle of autonomy
we should allow rational people to be self-determining, except possible where:
- the harm principle
- weak paternalism
- strong paternalism
- the welfare principle
the principle of justice
we should treat similar cases in similar ways, possible according to:
- equality
- need
- desert (contribution, effort, compensation)
- equality of opportunity
features of principlism
- aims to solve ethical dilemmas
- had a huge impact in the biomedical field by reducing ethical decision-making to a dilemma with 4 principles (autonomy, non-maleficence, justice, beneficence)
principlism
- principles of actions
- built on universal principles (apply to all cultures, principles on which everyone agrees)
- principles that are agreed upon when making a decision
- vague indications for action + multiple interpretations
- for solving dilemmas
principlism claims
- there are no norms intrinsic to medical practice that should guide determination of what the best action is in medicine
- there are fundamental ethical principles - autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice - shared among diverse ethical theories, that should guide ethical action in medicine
- particular moral judgements involve applications of principles and rules to concrete situations
autonomy
auto - self
nomos - law, government, rule
- to give oneself ones own law
- autonomy brings together ethical issues concerning the freedom of each individual to shape his or her own destiny
- autonomy is the basis of Kantian notion
- in western bioethics, the hard core of autonomy is a principle of authorization/permission:
–> each of us has final authority over our own person
–> the persons permission is required for any action on his person
beneficence
- the good of the patient is the guiding principle of medical action, the moral motor of the action of caring
- risk/benefit analysis
non-maleficence
- the obligation not to inflict harm on others
- based on the ancient maxim of primum non nicer - first, do no harm
justice
- the principle that addresses the social context
- how to distribute resources in a way that respects the equal consideration due to each person and their needs (e.g., in a triage)
what should justice be based?
- equality
- need
- desert-based approaches (contribution, effort, compensation)
- equality of opportunity
crucial features of a moral dilemma
- the agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions
- the agent can do each of the actions
- but the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions
