Applied Ethics Revision What are the issues? - PowerPoint Presentation

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Applied Ethics Revision

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What are the issues?

Abortion

Euthanasia and assisted suicide

Capital Punishment

Genetic engineering (cloning, designer babies, genetic research)

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When applying Natural Law:

The fact that Natural Law is absoluteWhich of the primary precepts affect the issue?Are there any secondary precepts which apply?Does double effect apply?Does the situation require an unusual response?Reference to the virtues?Proportionalism

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Situation Ethics

The fact that Situation Ethics is relativisticWhat will work in the particular situation (use examples)?How love is affirmed by the actionDoes the action put people before laws?What end is aimed at?What means are you using to achieve the end?What motivates the actWhat the foreseeable consequences are

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Virtue Ethics

The fact that Virtue Ethics is character based ethics (about the person, not the act/consequences)Which virtues are to be taken into account in the situation – you don’t have to cover all of Aristotle’s list, just the ones most appropriate to the situationWhich vices are being demonstrated?How the possible actions will encourage good habits/good character both for individuals and society and answer ‘what would virtuous people do?’What are the motives for the various courses of actions?Are there any factors in the situation that we cannot account for using virtue theory?

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On the A3 paper

Move around the room and write all the ethical issues you can think of for all the topics (human and animal)

Try to add to what other people have done, and include evidence and examples where possible

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Abortion

When does life begin?EnsoulmentPersonhoodLaw – 1967; 24 weeksAdvantages in medicine Pro choicePro lifeSanctity of lifeQuality of life

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Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Sanctity of lifeQuality of lifeDignityLegalitySlippery slope argument‘Playing God’Right to decide Cost of keeping people aliveCost of euthanasia (taxpayers)Who decides – patient, family, doctor, judge?

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Capital Punishment

Sanctity of lifeQuality of lifeJusticeCost of keeping people in prisonLethal injection more humane? Doesn’t always work?History of capital punishmentWrong convictionsUsed/abolished in which countries?Aims of punishment (x4)

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Genetic Engineering; designer babies; cloning

Sanctity of lifePersonhoodEnsoulmentWhen does life begin?Greater good (medical research)Legality (14 days)The right to a childMoney‘Master race’

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Group Work

1. Split into three groups

2. I will give you a topic and a theory, and a part A question. Plan the essay with your group.

3. Then plan a part B essay, using the same info.

Look at all the essay plans. See if you can add/improve anything, and you can take pictures of them so you all share the work you have put in.

Write up a part A and part B (using the plans) in timed conditions.

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Part As

Explain how Virtue Ethics approaches the issue of capital

punishment

Explain how followers of Natural Law might approach the issue of abortion

differently

Explain how Situation Ethics approaches the issue of euthanasia.

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Part Bs

‘Situation ethics does not provide adequate guidance when applied to capital

punishment’

Discuss

‘Virtue Ethics has no satisfactory answer to the ethical problems of

abortion’

Natural moral law theory has no satisfactory answers to the ethical problems of

euthanasia

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Abortion - Natural Law

Aquinas

' Natural Law philosophy has as a Primary Precept 'the preservation of life’ This absolute theory permits no exceptions, so the life of the unborn is given the same status as an existing life and abortion also goes against the natural purpose of conception. IVF is totally unacceptable to followers of Natural Law because it intrudes into the natural process of conception and involves the destruction of lives in the form of unwanted embryos. All artificial methods of helping a woman to conceive are rejected because they involve masturbation to create sperm, which is regarded as misuse of the genitalia.

Because Natural Law is concerned with the motive and not the outcome of an action there is an acceptance of the doctrine of Double Effect. Roman Catholic Christianity is based on Natural Law and this extract from the Catholic Encyclopaedia explains the position:

“If medical treatment or surgical operation, necessary to save a mother's life, is applied to her organism (though the child's death would, or at least might, follow as a regretted but unavoidable consequence), it should not be maintained that the foetal life is thereby directly attacked”.

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Principle of the Double Effect

Four conditions must be met…We do not wish the evil effects and make all reasonable efforts to avoid themThe immediate effect in itself should be goodThe evil is not made a means to obtain the goodThe good effect should be as important, proportionately at least, as the evil effect.

Where have you come across this principle before?

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Christian Teachings: Church of England and Methodist Church

“We affirm that every human life, created in the divine image. is unique... and that holds for each of us, born or yet to be born... Although the foetus is to be specially respected and protected, nonetheless the life of the foetus is not absolutely paramount”. Church of England Report, 1984 “Circumstances which may often justify an abortion are direct threats to the life of the mother, or the probable birth of a severely abnormal child. The woman's other children, bad housing and family should also be considered”. Methodist Synod, 1976

Which philosopher would agree?

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Abortion - Situation Ethics

Situation Ethics grew out of a tradition that viewed abortion as an evil act. Fletcher said we should not get rid of rules - they are a useful guide in most situations. However, the only thing good in itself is love, and we may be required to 'push our principles aside and do the right thing'. The Church of England's position, that abortion is evil but may be the 'lesser of two evils' is consistent with a

situationist

approach. If a woman has been raped, abortion may be an act of love.

Although being very closely linked to utilitarianism, situation ethics should give quite different results. It doesn't see pleasure as good in itself. However, both Singer's utilitarianism and Fletcher's situation ethics say you should act in the 'best interests' of those affected. The real question is what counts as being in someone's best interests. This is where a Christian ethics will include the idea that God created us, instructed us to reproduce etc. Seen in this light, Situation Ethics will start from the belief that it is generally in our interests to create families, nurturing and educating our children. However, in exceptional circumstances the situation might demand a different, loving response. Abortion would be an exception in extreme circumstances, not a method of birth control (as it has become in some countries).

In an exam, it would be helpful to consider case studies. For example, where a foetus has a serious disability and the parents are worried that they would be unable to bring up the child financially, or that doing so might take time away from their other children, it may be a compassionate response to abort the foetus to take away such a great burden.

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Abortion - Virtue Ethics

It is always a more difficult to apply Virtue Ethics, as it is concerned with the sort of people we should be. What would a kind, temperate, courageous person do? This is not at all clear. Watch 

Vera Drake 

or 

The Cider House Rules

 and you will see compassionate, courageous people performing abortions to help others. There must equally be kind, noble, courageous people campaigning against abortion. Again, the status of the foetus is key here. Would a courageous person let someone kill a foetus? Well, if the foetus wasn't a person yet, then yes they might. If the foetus was a person, it would surely be more courageous to prevent their being killed.

Put a different way, virtue ethicists see justice as a cardinal virtue. If justice includes the foetus, abortion is wrong. However, in the UK, America and most other countries, the foetus does not have the rights of a person, and justice doesn't include them in this way. As with many ethical responses, the status of the foetus affects the response you give.

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‘In the context of euthanasia, the best way to make moral decisions is to apply the principle of agape.’ Discuss.

SE – Weaknesses

NL - Strength

Rejects absolute rules –

situation ethicist would ignore any rules that were made anyway if the situation demanded it. Situationists would say that if euthanasia was not allowed it may well be right to break the law to help someone die.

Has absolute rules - values such as the preservation of

life are considered ethically good by most societies in the world – euthanasia is illegal in most countries.

It puts stress

on the value and worth of life in general and human life in particular.

Too subjective and individualistic because the question of how love is best served might be interpreted differently by a

terminally ill patient members of the family and the doctor.

It’s universal application is important in

a multicultural society – Roman Catholics, Muslims and Orthodox Jews have very similar views on euthanasia.

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Euthanaisa - Natural Law TelosHuman life has a telos (end) which is union with God. Reason We should use our God given reasoning skills to work out what is a real good (one that conforms to natural law).Four Tiers of LawEternal Law: the principles by which God made and controls the universe and which are only fully known to God.Divine Law: the law of God revealed in the Bible.Natural Law: the moral law of God within human nature that is discoverable through use of reason. Human Law: everyday rules that govern our lives.Primary Precepts The general rules that human beings are inclined to follow:1. Preservation of life2. Reproduction3. Education and learning4. Living peacefully in society5. Worshipping GodSecondary preceptsThe practical application of the primary precepts in specific areas. This requires reason and argument. The doctrine of double effectStates that it is sometimes morally acceptable to perform a good act which will bring about bad consequences, but that it is always wrong to perform a bad act for the sake of good consequences. good intention is vital.

Euthanasia breaks divine law – the law of God revealed in the Bible particularly the Ten Commandments “do not murder” – therefore euthanasia is always morally wrong.

Values such as this are considered ethically good by most societies in the world – euthanasia is illegal in most countries.

It is not clear whether you can really distinguish between relieving pain knowing but not intending that it may cause the patient’s death which is ok and giving them pain killers for the sake of relieving their suffering which not okay according to the doctrine of double effect. We might ask whether doing something in the certain knowledge that a particular consequence will happen is truly not to intend that consequence.

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Euthanasia - Situation ethics AgapeAgape is concern for others. In each situation Fletcher said we should do the most loving thing. Four working principles1. Pragmatism It is based on experience rather than on theory. For a course of action to be right, it has to be practical.  It must work.2. Relativism This means that Christian rules (absolutes) don’t always apply, they depend on the situation. 3. Positivism You have to start with a positive choice – you need to want to do good. 4. Personalism Situation Ethics puts people first.  People are more important than rules. Six propositions1. Love only is always good 2. Love is the only norm (rule) 3. Love and justice are the same 4. Love is not liking 5. Love justifies the means 6. Love decides there and then

The absolute laws of Christian ethics revealed in the Bible – particularly the Ten Commandments (do not murder) should be made relative, which means euthanasia is not always morally wrong.

The person not laws or anything else are at the centre of any consideration of the issue.

The first century biblical concept of agape cannot be applied to decisions about the issue of euthanasia in the 21

st

century.

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Genetic Engineering - Christian views

A Liberal Christian view can be found within the ideas of

Situation Ethics

. God has given humans an intelligent brain and so has given them the ability to develop medicine to eradicate suffering and disease.

Genetic engineering is an advanced form of medical treatment that is to be welcomed if it enhances

agape

through the eradication of diseases.

A

similar idea is held by

John Hick

, who maintains the importance of the

immanence

of God in creation and that such medical treatment can be identified with the ethics of this immanence.

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Genetic engineering - Christian views

Roman

Catholics follow the tradition of Natural Law. Pope Benedict XVI has said embryo research is morally wrong and could lead to a new form of

eugenics.

Masturbating is a sin in the Catholic Church, and men have to do this to provide sperm for the process of IVF.

There is also a lack of knowledge about the

genome

(the complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism).

It is argued that even though scientists are discovering what DNA does, we still don’t know what the long-term effects of modifying genomes will be

.

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Genetic engineering - CHRISTIAN VIEWS

Christian Natural Law scholars argue that, in the scheme of Creation, playing God is a dangerous and immoral thing when the consequences remain unknown

.

The process of fertility treatment means that the unifying act of love and making a baby is broken.

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Genetic engineering - Double effect

Some

Christians argue that the

law of double effect

should be applied to embryo research. A good moral act has the secondary consequence of killing the embryo. Genetic research does not seek to kill the embryo. This is a by-product of the research.