bioethics final

Virtue

A stable habit of doing the good

excellence of character that perfects human powers

Freedom of Indifference

The idea that freedom is the capacity to choose between alternatives without internal direction toward the good

Freedom for Excellence

The idea that true freedom is the capacity to choose the objectively good and to flourish

freedom ordered toward human perfection

Morality of Happiness

Ethical view that morality aims at human flourishing and beatitude

Morality of Obligation

Ethical view that morality is primarily about duty

Moral Principles

General norms or rules that guide moral action (e.g.

Faith

Trust and assent to revealed truths (supernatural assent to God's revelation)

a way of knowing complementing reason in theology

Reason

The human cognitive power to know truths through observation

Rational Capacity

The human ability to grasp truths

includes both potential and exercised reason

Scientism

The philosophical stance that only empirical science yields real knowledge

it unduly excludes other legitimate forms of knowing (e.g.

metaphysics

Nihilism

The belief that life lacks objective meaning

Pragmatism

An approach judging beliefs by practical consequences and usefulness rather than by correspondence to objective truth

Secular Humanism

A worldview that emphasizes human reason and ethics without reliance on supernatural revelation

often prioritizes human autonomy and flourishing

Pope Pius XII on Evolution

Recognized that evolution could be a valid hypothesis for the origin of the human body

Hylomorphism

Aristotelian-Thomistic theory that every material substance is composed of matter (hyle) and form (morphe)

the soul is the substantial form of the human body

Image of God

The doctrine that humans are created with a likeness to God (rationality

Human Dignity

The intrinsic worth of every human person

deserving of respect and moral protection

The Transcendental Desires

Basic human longings (for truth

show that the human heart seeks more than material satisfaction

Radical Capacity for Reason

The deep potential within a human organism to develop genuine rationality (the ontological potential to become a rational person)

Immediately-Exercisable Capacity for Reason

The actual

Consistent Life Ethic

A single moral perspective opposing intentionally ending innocent human life across issues: abortion

Personalistic Norm of John Paul II

The principle that a person must always be treated as an end in themselves and never merely as a means to an end

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

Assisted reproductive technology that fertilizes eggs outside the body

raises ethical issues when embryos are created

frozen

Germline Gene Editing

Genetic changes made to gametes or embryos that are heritable by future generations (raises strong ethical concerns about consent

Somatic Gene Editing

Genetic changes made to non-reproductive cells in an individual

effects are not heritable and are generally considered less ethically problematic if safe and therapeutic

Hippocratic Oath Principles

Non-maleficence (First do no harm) and Confidentiality (Maintain patient privacy)

Substantial Form

Soul is the form that makes the body a living human organism

Principle of Life

Soul accounts for nutrition

Sensory/Locomotive Powers

Soul grounds sense perception and movement (sensitive operations)

Intellectual/Reasoning Power

Unique rational capacity: abstraction

Will/Free Choice

Soul includes the appetitive/will power enabling deliberate choice toward the good

Substance

That which exists in itself

the underlying being (e.g.

a human organism)

Accidental Properties

Contingent properties that can vary (size

Person-Body Dualism

Soul and body are two wholly separable substances

person = immaterial mind that merely inhabits body

Natural Law Realism

Person is an integrated unity of body and soul

soul is the form of the body

Embryonic Stem Cells

Pluripotent cells that can become almost any cell type but require destruction of embryos to harvest

Adult Stem Cells

Multipotent tissue-specific cells with established clinical successes that do not require embryo destruction

Ordinary Means of Care

Treatments that offer reasonable hope of benefit without excessive burdens or costs

morally obligatory to provide

Extraordinary Means of Care

Treatments that are excessively burdensome

not morally obligator