Download Bioethics

What is Bioethics?
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Ethics- examining and understanding choices.
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The discipline dealing with what is good and bad,
and with moral duty and obligation.
The principles of conduct governing an individual or
group.
Ethic – A set of moral principles and values.
“Individual Ethic” – Your personal view of what
is right and wrong regarding a specific issue.
Ethics deals with what “ought to be” not with
“what is”!
What is Bioethics?
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Bioethics- studies right and wrong
in the life sciences.
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Medical: Dealing with doctors’ role,
medical research, human life.
 Environmental: Dealing with nature,
habitats, and population.
 Social Sciences: Dealing with human
nature and behavior.
History of Bioethics
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Medical Ethics
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Centuries old discipline.
Numerous codes of conduct, including the
Hippocratic Oath (“first, do no harm…”)
Bioethics emerges in the 1960’s.
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Medical technology advances:
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Rise of Environmentalism:
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Kidney dialysis, Organ transplantation, Abortion, The Pill,
shift toward death in hospitals.
Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)
Cultural Changes:
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Civil Rights, Feminism
Bioethics is Multidisciplinary
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Philosophy & Religion:
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Medicine:
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Traditional roots.
Personal and Social concerns.
Social & Policy Sciences:
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Rooted in Tradition.
Legal, social, political, & policy concerns.
Biology/Ecology:
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Environmental sciences.
Scientific understanding of life.
What does a bioethical issue
look like?
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It is a controversial issue.
It relates to life sciences.
The question could be asked;
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“Should”……… or “Is…… ethical”
Example:
“Is abortion in the 2nd trimester ethical?
 “Should women in their 2nd trimester of pregnancy
be allowed to have abortions?
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Bioethical Questions
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Moral Questions:
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Private choice vs. Public standards.
Personal Questions:
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What kind of person should I be…
What are my duties and obligations to
others…
What do I owe to the common good…
Bioethical Questions
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Bioethical questions involve moral
conflict:
Moral conflict is a problem that requires
a choice.
 The consequences of the choice are
painful no matter what action you
take.
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Moral Behavior
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Moral Behavior- an individual or group’s
interpretation of what is an acceptable
action or choice.
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Example: A young women suffers a massive
stroke and is kept breathing only with a
ventilator.
Issue: “Should the ventilator be shut off?”
Moral Conflict and Behavior
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Perspectives: ways of viewing the world
from a different lens “putting yourself in
someone else's shoes”.
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Family
Doctor
Insurance company
Values influence
choices. When values
are on opposite ends
decisions become
sources of conflict.
Key Bioethical Considerations
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How do you define “Good”?
 Good-
varies across groups and
societies.
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Culture, religion, gender, and generation
gaps influence what one considers good.
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Different perspectives
Key Bioethical Considerations
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Utility
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Assess costs or risks vs. benefits.
Financial costs & benefits.
 Social or moral costs & benefits.
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Measure “good” to promote the greatest
happiness for the most people.
Key Bioethical Considerations
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Beneficence: The practice of good
deeds.
Refraining from harm.
 Actively doing good.
 Limits to beneficence:
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Duty to self.
 Feasibility (limited human capacity).
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Key Bioethical Considerations
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Autonomy (Self-Determination)
Freedom to follow one’s own will.
 “Good” defined by the recipient of an action,
rather than by the actor.
 Individuals think and choose for themselves.
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Our autonomy is limited by many factors.
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Legal, cultural, religious, traditional, financial.
Key Bioethical Considerations
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Autonomy thought exercise.
 Imagine
a wealthy woman with a
painful, terminal illness, considering
assisted suicide.
 How
might her choice be affected by:
Her culture & religion.
 Her family
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Key Bioethical Considerations
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Autonomy thought exercise.
 Imagine
yourself alone on an island.
How would your behavior be different
with no other people around?
Key Bioethical Considerations
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Values: Ideas or images that
explain why something matters to us.
 Positive
vs. negative values.
 Organic values: Life, health, vigor…
 Moral values: Rights & duties.
 Values & Action: We act to promote our
values.
 Shared values are required for a society
to exist.