Foundations of Bioethics Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the major ethical theories and principles found in the Foundations of Bioethics lecture, including Utilitarianism, Deontology, Rawls's Theory of Justice, Natural Law, Virtue Ethics, and Care Ethics.

Autonomy

A moral and ethical principle that emphasizes the importance of respecting individuals' freedom to make their own decisions and choices through self-governance and independence from external control.

Beneficence

An ethical principle focused on doing good and helping people to improve their conditions with respect to virtue, intelligence, or pleasure.

Non-Maleficence

An ethical principle that dictates avoiding or preventing injury to others, often summarized as "Do NO harm."

Justice

An ethical principle concerned with the proper distribution of social benefits and burdens, ensuring fairness and just dealings.

Utilitarianism

A consequentialist theory of ethics stating that actions are right if they promote the greatest happiness for the majority (the greatest good for the greatest number).

Principle of Utility

The core of Utilitarianism which asserts that the rightness or wrongness of actions is determined by the goodness or badness of its consequences.

Consequentialism

A core principle of Utilitarianism where the morality of an action is based solely on its outcomes or consequences.

Hedonism

A component of Utilitarianism which posits that pleasure and happiness are the ultimate goals of moral action.

Universalism (Utilitarianism)

The core principle that moral principles apply to all individuals, aiming for the greatest overall happiness.

Jeremy Bentham

The utilitarian theorist known as the Father of Modern Utilitarianism who emphasized pleasure and pain as key motivators.

John Stuart Mill

A utilitarian theorist who distinguished between higher (intellectual and moral) and lower pleasures.

Deontology

Derived from the Greek words "Deon" (duty) and "Logos" (study), this theory determines the morality of actions based on adherence to rules, duties, or obligations.

Immanuel Kant

The German thinker who laid the foundations for deontology, arguing that the rightness of an action is determined by the motive of duty rather than consequences.

Categorical Imperative

Kant's central ethical command that prescribes what we ought to do without reference to consequences, based on the test of universalizability.

Hypothetical Imperatives

Commands that tell us what to do only if we want to bring about certain specific consequences, such as happiness.

Universalizability

The test within the Categorical Imperative that requires a moral maxim to be generalized to apply to all cases of the same kind.

Kingdom of Ends

A Kantian concept of a moral community where people apply moral maxims that show respect for others' rationality and treat them as ends in themselves.

William David Ross

A British philosopher who presented a rule-deontological theory in his book "The Right and the Good," incorporating aspects of Utilitarianism and Kantianism.

Ethical Intuitionism

The tradition followed by W.D. Ross, suggesting that we can intuit the appropriate duty after a careful examination of the facts of a case.

Prima Facie Duties

Moral obligations that "at first view" should be followed unless there is a stronger, competing reason not to.

Duties of Fidelity

A type of prima facie duty involving keeping promises and telling the truth.

Duties of Reparation

A type of prima facie duty focused on righting the wrongs we have done to others and making amends.

Duties of Gratitude

A type of prima facie duty involving recognizing the services others have done for us and being grateful.

John Rawls

A Harvard philosopher who wrote "A Theory of Justice," aiming to combine strengths of Utilitarianism and Deontology through standards for social institutions.

Rawls's First Principle of Justice

The principle that each person has an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system for all.

Rawls's Second Principle of Justice

The principle that social and economic inequalities must benefit the least advantaged and be attached to positions open to all under fair equality of opportunity.

Natural Law Ethics

The theory that the rightness of actions is determined by nature itself and a teleological universe, rather than by human laws or preferences.

St. Thomas Aquinas

The 13th-century philosopher and theologian who formulated the most well-known version of Natural Law endorsed by the Catholic Church.

Teleological

A term for being structured in such a way that each thing has a goal or purpose; used in Thomistic natural law to describe the universe.

Conscience (Natural Law)

The "inner voice" that acts as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior.

Natural Inclination

The idea that human good is built into nature, including self-preservation, just dealings with others, and propagation of species.

Principle of Double Effect

A principle holding that an action with both good and bad effects is permissible if the intention is only the good effect and specific moral conditions are met.

Principle of Totality

The principle that an individual may dispose of organs or capacity to function only to the extent that the general well-being of the whole body demands it.

Virtue Ethics

Ethics based on character, suggesting that a person with the proper set of dispositions (like courage or integrity) will do what is right without relying on rules.

Care Ethics

A strand of feminist ethics that rejects abstract rules in favor of the sentiment of caring and seeing the person rather than just a medical problem.