Chapter 1 Ethics

Ethics

Is the branch of philosophy that seeks to understand the nature, purpose, justification and founding principles of moral rules and the systems they comprise

Microethics

Involves an individuals views of what is right and wrong based on personal life teachings, traditions and experience. It complete process of interactions occurring between the doctor and the patient that is history taking, physical examination, choice of various investigation and therapeutic option and their execution

Macroethics

involves a more global view of right and wrong that encompasses societal, cultural, and universal ethical standards.

Bioethics

Addresses a diversity of issues that include the nature of life and death in the context of medicine, healthcare, and biological research, often involving ethical dilemmas surrounding patient care, medical practice, and technologies. It deals with the ethical issues in life sustaining situation and critical decision.

Morality

Refers to the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior, often shaping ethical standards and guiding decisions in personal and societal contexts. Describes a class of rules held by society to govern the conduct of its individual member.

Moral Judgment

Judgment concerned with what an individual or group believes to be the right or proper behavior in a given situation that involves evaluating actions based on moral principles and values.

Moral Dilemmas

Situations where a choice must be made between conflicting moral principles, often involving difficult decisions with no clear right or wrong outcome.

Ethical theories

A systematic framework for understanding and evaluating moral principles and values, providing guidance on what constitutes right or wrong behavior. Helps the outcome of alternative choice, when following their duties to others in order to reach the best ethical decision in respective ethical guidelines and reasoning.

Mataethics

Is the study of the nature, origins, and meanings of ethical concepts and judgments, focusing on questions like what morality is and how ethical truths can be known.

Normative ethics

Is branch of moral philosophy or ethics dealing with what action are morally right and wrong.

Descriptive ethics

also known as comparative ethics, is the study of what people believe to be right and wrong and why they believe it. How people act an or what sorts of moral standards they claim. It examines the practices and beliefs of different cultures and societies without making moral judgments.

Normative ethics

prescribes how people ought to act and establishes criteria for evaluating moral standards. It aims to create guidelines for determining right and wrong actions.

Applied ethics

Is “the philosophical search (within Western
philosophy) for right and wrong within controversial scenarios.” Is the application of normative theories to practical moral problems, such as abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide.

Consequential theory

of ethics emphasizes that the morally
right action is whatever action leads to the maximum balance of good over evil.

Deontological ethics

is an ethical framework that assesses the morality of actions based on rules and duties rather than the consequences of those actions. It believed that although doing the right thing is good, it might not always lead to or increase the good and right thing
sought after. It focuses on one’s duties to others and others’ rights. It includes telling the truth and keeping your promises. This ethics is often referred to as duty-based ethics. It involves ethical analysis according to a moral code or rules, religious or secular.

Utilitarian Ethics

involves the concept that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall usefulness. It describes doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It is thus a form of consequential ethics, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome, and,
thus, the ends justify the means. That holds that
the proper course of an action is one that maximizes utility, commonly defined as maximizing happiness and reducing suffering

Nonconsequential Ethics

denies that the consequences of an
action are the only criteria for determining the morality of an action. In this theory, the rightness or wrongness of an action is based on properties intrinsic to the action, not on its consequences. In other
words, they believes right or wrong depends on the intention, not the outcome.

Ethical relativism

holds that morality is relative to the
norms of the culture where one lives. In other words, right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. A particular action by an individual may be morally right in one society or culture and wrong in another. What is acceptable in one society
may not be considered as such in another.

Ethical principles

are universal rules of conduct, derived from
ethical theories that provide a practical basis for identifying what kinds of actions, intentions, and motives are valued. assist caregivers in making choices based on moral principles that have been identified as standards considered meaningful when addressing healthcare-related ethical dilemmas.

Autonomy

involves recognizing the right of a person to make one’s own life decisions.