Download 12-7

Approaches to Ethical
Thinking
Where have we been all
semester?
Approaches to Ethical
Reasoning
Principles
Cases
Virtues
Possible sources of ethical
principles
Kantian ethics
Utilitarian ethics
Rights-based theories
Religious ethics
Feminist ethics (?)
Communitarian ethics
Kantian Ethics
Core Idea: We can use our
reason to discern that some
actions are wrong based on the
nature of the action and apart
from its practical consequences
Utilitarianism
Core Idea: Ethics should be
based on facts about the results
of our actions upon human
happiness and suffering in the
real world
Rights
Has a legitimate role in ethical reasoning
Grounded in basic theory of human
flourishing
Sets constraints on maximizing good
Sets constraints on majority rule
In our culture, too often used to stop, not
pursue ethical dialogue
Rights (cont.)
Indicates the realm of “stranger ethics”
Compare:
Child’s right to an open future
Child’s right not to be abused or neglected
Religious ethics
Not explicitly addressed in class
Argue: No need to allow a concern for
separation of church and state in
pluralistic society to exclude religious
ethics from public dialogue as a possible
source of wisdom
Feminist ethics
Negative value
Critique of ethical conclusions that were
arrived at without hearing the voices of the
less powerful or without considering the
standpoint of all involved people
Positive value
Ethics of caring, relationships
Role of emotion in ethics
Communitarian ethics
Can serve as important corrective to
excessive reliance on individual rights,
autonomy
Reminds us that we are often most
accurately described as “most real” as
members of families and communities, not
as isolated individuals
Approaches to Ethical
Reasoning
Principles
Cases
Either-or or both-and?
Abstract principles
Concrete specific judgments
PRINCIPLES
CASES
Abstract principles
REFLECTIVE
EQUILIBRIUM
Concrete specific judgments
Reflective Equilibrium
Look for best overall “fit”
Reason both from cases to principles and
from principles to cases
Sometimes a specific case judgment will
seem better “grounded,” other times a
principle will
Be willing to revise ethical judgments
based on new ideas and insights
Snapshot vs. videotape
What does it mean to do the right
thing now?
Rules, principles, case
study
What does it mean to live a morally
good life?
Virtue
Virtue Approach
Focus on questions of character and
integrity (“professionalism”)
In health care: important values such as
compassion and courage
Because more self- than other-oriented,
won’t work as complete system of ethics
A Better Understanding
A & S, p. 9
Human life and behavior is exceedingly
complex
To be workable as a theory or model,
must be simpler than real life
Therefore, any one theory will have gaps
and blind spots but may be good partial
description of the moral life
Blind Men and Elephant
A Helpful Metaphor?
Approach each ethical problem as a job
Ethical theories are tools in your tool box
which you bring to the work
Part of job is picking the right tools to
perform that job well