Exploring Ethical

Theories: A Watch your thoughts; they become

words.
Comprehensive
Watch your words; they become
Examination of actions.
Approaches and Watch your actions; they become
Applications habits.
Watch your habits; they become
Normative ethical theories guide
character.
individuals in moral thinking and
reasoning, providing justification for Watch your character; it becomes
actions. Popular, not all-inclusive your destiny.
theories include Western and Eastern
Ethics. —Various attributions but author
unknown
Religion and Western  Emphasizes the excellence of
Ethics one’s character and the ideal
person one wants to be.
Western ethics systems often include  Virtues or arête in Greek, refer
monotheistic religious traditions like to excellences in people of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which objects, even inanimate objects.
rely on sacred texts for morality. For humans, virtues are
Historical figures like Augustine and habitual, intentional traits
Aquinas and Maimonides have developed throughout one’s
influenced these systems. The ancient life.
Greeks provided the most developed  Are lasting features, active and
ethics in the Western world until the develop through selective
Middle Ages, when religious doctrine response to circumstances and
became the primary focus. The persist through challenges and
Enlightenment period saw secular difficulties and can be
ethics overtake religious systems, strengthened or weakened by
blurring the lines between sacred and responses.
secular ethics. Ethics now falls under  A person’s virtue is an excellent
philosophy rather than religion. friend, thinker, and citizen.
 Aristotle categorized virtue as:
a. Intellectual virtues- arise
Virtue Ethics ~ focuses on the from teaching and experience.
character of the person making the b. Character virtues- result
ethical decision. Aristotle is a from habituation.
prominent philosopher in this field.
VIRTUES- are human character traits IMMANUEL KANT- prominent
admired by most people and considered philosopher that defined a person as a
useful to others, oneself or both. rational, autonomous being with the
PLATO- identified 4 primary virtues: ability to know universal moral laws
Virtue, fortitude, temperance and and the freedom to act morally.
justice. > individuals are ethically bound to act
David Hume- believed virtues stem only from a sense of duty, with
from natural human tendency to be consequences of actions considered
sympathetic or benevolent towards irrelevant.
others. > rational choice is superior to emotion
Friedrich Nietzsche- believed the best and that people should be treated with
character for people is grounded in a dignity and respect. Using others for
will power. He praised strength as personal ends could harm people.
virtuous while feminine virtues like
caring and kindness were considered CONSEQUENTIALIS
sign of weakness. This philosophy is
believed to have been adopted by
M
> Also referred to as Utilitarianism.
Adolf Hitler and has a little place in
> best action is the one that maximizes
nursing ethics.
overall happiness or pleasure.
Jeremy Bentham & John Stuart Mill
NATURAL LAW – key figures
THEORY > Aims to promote the greatest good
> True law- namely, right reason and minimize harm, believing it is
> In accordance with nature applied to beneficial for society to achieve the
all men, unchangeable and eternal. greatest good for the most affected
> is a complex concept based on the individuals.
laws of nature rather than human law.
> Aristotle- universal justice grounded 2 MAIN TYPES: aims to achieve
in nature most happiness for the most people
> Saint Thomas Aquinas- where 1. Rule Utilitarianism ~ certain rules
modern version of religious philosophy create the best consequences for the
is rooted. most people.
> Asserts the morality inherent in ~ uphold promises if they cause more
nature not revealed through customs. happiness than suffering.
> The basis for religious prohibitions 2. Act Utilitarianism ~ prioritize
against unnatural acts. actions based on their likely good
consequences.
DEONTOLOGICAL ~ Allow actions to cause more
ETHICS suffering than happiness to avoid
~ focuses on the duty to do what is violating generalized rules.
right, regardless of the consequences.
PRIMA FACIE RIGHTS issues surrounding specific patient
> based on the first impression or cases.
appearance of things.
> keeping promises, repaying
NARRATIVE ETHICS
~ is a story-based approach that shares
kindness, helping others and
similarities with casuistry and virtue
preventing distress. If these actions
ethics.
conflict each other, one must decide
where their actual duty lies. ALASDAIR MACINTYRE- humans
SIR WILLIAM DAVID ROSS- are "essentially a story-telling
defined the prima facie ethics. This is animal" and are influenced by stories
relevant for nurses who must prioritize like novels and literary works.
actions that can cause distress while > Nurses who use narrative ethics are
helping others. But it is imperfect sensitive to how personal and
human knowledge is crucial in ethical community stories evolve and can be
decision-making. changed. They recognize that people's
moral character and actions fit within
PRINCIPLISM the larger stories of their culture and
> are rule-based criteria for conduct are situated within their personal life
derived from identifying obligations narratives.
and duties.
~ Deontology is a precursor to > Nurses who use narrative ethics
principlism. recognize that individual human stories
~ used as the basis for ethically related are constantly constructed in relation to
documents, such as documents a greater community. They care for
reflecting positions about human rights. patients and understand that their
actions influence their unfolding stories
CASUISTRY in both large and small ways.
~ethical approach rooted in Judeo-
Christian history, where individuals CRITICAL
make decisions based on individual THEORY
cases rather than absolute rules.
> broad term addressing the
~ helps individuals understand the
oppression of powerful groups by
relevance of sacred laws in specific
promoting human emancipation.
situations.
~ also evident in Catholic history, Three core assumptions:
where individuals confess their sins to
1. that open Western democracies are
priests for absolution, receiving a
unequal societies with economic
personal penance based on the specific
inequality, racism, and class
circumstances surrounding the
discrimination.
occasion.
2. that dominant ideology reproduces
~ often the method used by healthcare
these realities
ethics committees to analyze the ethical
3. that critical theory attempts to distinguishing it from ethics of justice
understand these conditions as a and duty-based ethics that prioritize
necessary prelude to change. reason.
Example: Feminist approach to ethichs Nel Noddings is a key figure in this
such as ethic of care originating from field.
Gilligan-Kohlberg debate.

FEMINIST ETHICS Applications of Ethical

~ is the ethical theory that emphasizes Theories
the role of gender, power, and 1. Business
oppression in ethical decision- 2. Medicine (Healthcare)
making. 3. Political (Law)
~ primarily influenced by gender,
focusing on evaluating ethical Critiques of Ethical
situations affecting women and Theories:
addressing patterns of women's 1. Being too abstract
oppression by dominant social groups, 2. Not applicable to real-life situations
particularly men. 3. Do not take account cultural or
Carol Gilligan is a key figure in this individual differences.
field.

CARE ETHICS
~ is the ethical theory that emphasizes
the importance of relationships and
compassion in ethical decision-
making.
~ rooted in feminist ethics and
women's moral experiences emerged
from the Gilligan-Kohlberg debate.
~ emphasizes feminine traits like
love, compassion, and concern for
human wellbeing, acknowledging
natural partiality.
~ Emotions are seen as a natural
complement to rational thinking,