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General Ethics

This document outlines four main ethical approaches: 1) Teleological (utilitarianism) - the right act promotes the greatest happiness. 2) Deontological (duty-based) - acts are intrinsically right or wrong independent of consequences. Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative states to only act on principles that can be universalized. 3) Virtue ethics - focuses on good character traits like courage, wisdom and justice. 4) Divine command theory - morality is defined by a supreme being's commands in religious texts. The document also discusses Joseph Fletcher's guidelines for situational ethics that determine morality based on whether an act helps or hurts people.

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Vincent Quiña Piga
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403 views16 pages

General Ethics

This document outlines four main ethical approaches: 1) Teleological (utilitarianism) - the right act promotes the greatest happiness. 2) Deontological (duty-based) - acts are intrinsically right or wrong independent of consequences. Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative states to only act on principles that can be universalized. 3) Virtue ethics - focuses on good character traits like courage, wisdom and justice. 4) Divine command theory - morality is defined by a supreme being's commands in religious texts. The document also discusses Joseph Fletcher's guidelines for situational ethics that determine morality based on whether an act helps or hurts people.

Uploaded by

Vincent Quiña Piga
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ETHICAL

PRINCIPLES AND
OTHER
APPROACHES
a. Teleological Approach
• Telos (Greek) – goal or end

• “The right thing to do is the good thing


to do.”

• AKA: “act utilitarianism”


• Under act utilitarianism, the good resides
in the promotion of happiness or the
greatest net increase of pleasure over
pain.
JOSEPH FLETCHER
• Proponent of “situational ethics”
• Good is agape – the general goodwill or
love for humanity
• HUMAN NEED determines what is or what
is NOT ETHICAL.
ACT THAT HELPS PEOPLE = good act

ACT THAT HURTS PEOPLE = bad act


Fletcher’s Guidelines in Making
Ethical Decisions
• 1. consideration for people as human
beings.

• 2. consideration of consequences.

• 3. proportionate good to come from the


choices.
• 4. propriety of actual needs over ideal or
potential needs.

• 5. a desire to enlarge choices and reduce


chance and

• 6. a courageous acceptance of the


consequences of the decision.
b. Deontological Approach/Duty
Oriented Theory
• Deon (Greek) – “duty”

• Basic rightness or wrongness of an act


depends on the intrinsic nature rather than
upon the situation or its consequences.
IMMANUEL KANT
• German philosopher.
• “A person is a rational human being with
freedom and social worth.”

• A moral person acts on a sense of “duty


and reason”.
• Only through dutiful actions that people
have moral worth.

• Even when individuals do not want to fulfill


their duty, Kant believes that they are
required to do so.
Kant’s CATEGORICAL
IMPERATIVE

“Act only on that maxim by which you can at


the same time will that it should become a
Universal law.”
c. Virtue Ethics Approach
• AKA: aretaic ethics
• ARETE (Greek) – excellence, virtue

• FOCUS: traits and virtues of a good


person such as COURAGE,
TEMPERANCE, WISDOM and JUSTICE.
ALSO INCLUDES:
• 1. right motivation
• 2. right disposition
• 3. right traits for being good
• 4. doing right: courage, magnanimity,
honesty, justice, beneficence.
d. Divine Command Ethics
• Based on the theory that there is a
“Supreme or Divine Being” that sets down
the rules to provide guidance to moral
decisions.

• Religion based: Bible, Koran, Torah,


Bhagavad Gita
END
• QUIZ 1 (12/15/2018)
•
• 1. Define Ethics. How is ethics relevant to
your future goal of becoming a nurse? (10
points)
• 2. Explain Fletcher's Situational Ethics.
Provide samples. (10 points)
• 3. Explain Kant's Categorical Imperative.
(10 points)

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