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Ethics notes - philosophy
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Detailed analysis of utilitarianism and deontological ethics, including evaluation and their opinions on euthanasia.
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Ethics – moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity (Oxforddictionary). Reasons to be ethical / moral — religion, morality key to being a good person and are
rewarded for doing so eg heaven(+ rewards = higher motivation , - not one single religion and each have
different values) — personal gain, less stress/ guilt, advantages from helping pope, good karma, satisfy
basic human needs of friendship etc, our values give us guidance and define who we are (+ self interest big
motivator - can also motivate to be immoral) — make society fair equal, less chaotic, keeps it in order (+ in
theory can lessen discrimination and equality – different beliefs and culture have different ideas of
equality) — survival, if everyone was immoral then people would hurt others an society would spiral out of
control (+ in most peoples best interest, legislation created to protect us)— “do unto others as you would
have them do unto you” (+ emphasises the basic principle of respect – not everyone deserves respect) —
consequences from police / parents / school (+ consequences and laws are preventive measures – not
everyone will get caught) types of ethics — meta ethics, investigating where our values and morality come
from n what they mean, what is morality not what is moral — applied, applies ideas/theories to issues in
society and provides practical solutions — normative, investigate moral standards, regulates what s right
and wrong (util and duty part of this)
Euthanasia – painless killing of someone suffering from incurable disease (oxford dictionary 2023)
Active – idling a patient by active means eg injecting them — passive – intentionally letting a patient die
Voluntary – at request of person who dies — non-voluntary – person is unable to make choice so done for
them — indirect – providing treatment that reduces pain but speeds up Dying (doctrine of double – if
doing something morally old has a morally bad side effect it is ethically okay as long as bad outcome not
intended) — AS – person ants to die and is supported in getting the means to (BBC 2023). Section 2 suicide
act 1961 – “assisting or encouraging another person suicide prohibited” – murder or man slaughter
charge. Arguments for — compassion argument, dying with dignity instead of suffering — autonomy
argument, we have a right to chose how we die — public policy argument, can be safely regulated with
laws — arguments against — alternate treatments Available, don’t kill patients kill symptoms — no right
to be killed, Netherlands 1990, 1,000 killed without request — could never truly control it, drs do not
always report — assumption patients have a right to die impose on drs a duty to kill, restricts doctors
autonomy. (All of care 2023) UTIL VIEW – act – ending a persons life would be permissbale only if positive
outcomes outweigh negatives e.g. dying stops chronic pain etc — consequence (less pain quick death) is
greater than the action — differences between types of euthanasia not morally important unless they
produce diff consequences eg involuntary is always wrong — opponanats can argue that it reduces
happiness for society eg family of person Rule – only passive is okay (eg DNR) — generally disagree with it
because they focus on collective compliance with a rule and euthanasia could easily spiral out of control —
concerned with total happiness of everyone not just individual DUTY – physicians should take action that
aligns with societal principles – its okay for them to refuse if indivual does not meet standard or there is a
law against, physician has a moral duty to obey laws (duty for sake of duty) — important to see people as
objects of moral value and not means to an end, adhering to illegal request would be percieved as using
people as a means to an end — people who commit suicide destroy their rationality, euthanasia does not
show respect for own rationality — rationality bestows dignity, therefore a person who will lose all
rationality and dignity can request euthanasia (volunatary) eg dementia — hwwver do not have to respec
someone’s choice if that choice is morally wrong, it is morally right to prevent that act, so voluntary could
still be percieved as wrong.
Utilitarianism/teleological – justification for greater good “greatest happiness for greatest number”. Looks
at consequences not the action to judge righteousness. Any action justified by consequences. BENTHAM,
1748-1832. Hedonist theory – good is determined in terms of happiness. Act – action is only right if it
produces greatest balance of pleasure over pain for greatest number — Rule – action is only right if it
conforms to a set of rules generally accepted which produces greatest number of pleasure — john mill,
adjusted theory, argues quality over quantity on happiness — four theses, consequentialism (righteousness
determined by consequence), hedonism, maximalism (a right action produces the greatest good),
universalism (consider consequences of everyone affected equally)
EVAL — PROS – universal concept, everyone understands, applies to all cultures/ religions/beliefs, goal of
reducing harm while increasing happiness is universal — don’t need to practice a particular religion to
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