I need an explanation for this Health & Medical question to help me study.
Be sure to read Chapter 14 on Healthcare Ethics before you answer this question.
When you are faced with a major decision (it may be helpful to think of an actual decision you’ve made or are faced with), do you tend to use more of a consequential form of reasoning (making the decision based on the consequences or effect of the outcome providing the most good for the most people as described in the sections on “Consequential Ethics” and “Utilitarian Ethics” on page 267 of the textbook) or a more categorical (the book calls it “Nonconsequential Ethics” on page 267 (also part of the deontological form of ethical reasoning – Emmanual Kant’s idea that there is right or wrong and we should do the right thing regardless of the consequences because it is our duty to do what is “right” as described on page 268 “Deontology”)?
For purposes of our discussion, let’s oversimplify a bit and have two forms of ethical reasoning:
- Consequential Ethical Reasoning which bases the correctness of a decision on the consequences that will result (the utilitarian idea of providing the most benefit for the most people), and
- Categorical (or deontological) Ethical Reasoning which based the correctness of the decision on the inherent “rightness” or “wrongness” of the actions being taken.
Which form of reasoning do you feel is more useful in making health care decisions in general? Explain why.
0 comments