With reference to relevant ethical theories, explain the arguments used to support developments in reproductive technology.
Transfer-Encoding: chunked With reference to relevant ethical theories, explain the arguments used to support developments in reproductive technology. [35] Reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilisation, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection have undoubtedly brought much joy to many people, and therefore many ethical systems support its development. A good place to start when considering the benefits of these technologies is the utilitarian view. Utilitarians believe that man has a natural desire to reproduce based in human biology. Patrick Steptoe is quoted as stating that "It is a fact that there is a biological desire to reproduce". Likewise, Peter Singer, famous utilitarian writer, in his defence of IVF refers to the desire for a child as being a very basic desire. If there is such a desire then there does seem to be a strong argument in favour of developing techniques to overcome infertility. Such an argument might be based on the utilitarian principle of `maximising happiness'. This theory claims that where there is a moral choice to make the right thing to do is the action which is likely to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. This theory starts with the happiness involved in a situation, takes into account the wider happiness of anyone else involved and takes the action that will produce
Explain the approach of Situation Ethics to moral decision making.
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Explain the approach of Situation Ethics to moral decision making. [35] Situation Ethics is a teleological approach to decision making, meaning that it is concerned with the ethical implications of the end result of an action as opposed to the fundamental correctness of the action itself. In 1962 an American Protestant Christian Theologian called Professor Joseph Fletcher wrote a book called ‘Situation Ethics’. Traditionally Christianity had been dominated by Natural Law thinking and in particular the view that certain actions were absolutely and always right or wrong, and Situation Ethics arose out of that background. Situationists claim that Jesus came to do away with a legalistic approach to religion. Situation Ethics is the name Fletcher gave to his system of moral thinking. Fletcher argued that it was pointless to try to look for moral laws which would cover every situation you could think of in life - life was far too complicated for that. The only absolute rule is that of love. It is not literally a ‘rule’ but an attitude or motive to help inform our moral choices. In any situation, a person must ask themselves what does love require them to do. A person must always do the most loving thing. Agape is a term used for the principle that applies love to every situation – morality based on love. In this context, according to
Explain the case for voluntary euthanasia.
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Explain the case for voluntary euthanasia. [35] Euthanasia can be defined as, “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.” When considering euthanasia we must consider the difference between acts of commission and acts of omission. Acts of omission is when something is deliberately not done, e.g. not giving a blood transfusion and just perhaps leaving the person to die – this would not be classified as euthanasia. The BMA (British Medical Association) recognises a distinction between withholding treatment that may become burdensome on the patient and deliberately bringing a person’s life to an end. Voluntary euthanasia is an act of commission; a positive, deliberate action e.g. administering tablets deliberately to bring death. There are many that would support assisted dying but not assisted suicide, although the two are closely linked. Assisted dying only applies to terminally ill, mentally competent adults and requires the dying patient, after meeting strict legal safeguards, to self administer life-ending medication. Assisted dying is legalised and regulated in the US States of Oregon and Washington. Voluntary euthanasia, on the other hand, allows a doctor to administer life ending medication directly to the patient. Voluntary euthanasia is permitted in the
Explore the view that suicide is a violation of religious teaching. Justify your answer.
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Explore the view that suicide is a violation of religious teaching. Justify your answer. [15] Nearly all religions across the world would believe that suicide is a sin against God and that it definitely violates religious teaching. In examining this view, a good place to start is the Christian view on the sanctity of life. Christians believe that all are made in the image of God – imago dei – and that there is an inherent sanctity to human life. Killing is prohibited as part of the Decalogue, where it states, “do not kill.” This extends to killing yourself. Elsewhere in the Old Testament there are other verses that can be used to prove that suicide violates religious teaching, such as in Ecclesiastes 7:17 where it states, “be not foolish, why should you die before your time?” Further evidence can be found in the New Testament, where Jesus declares that we are, “worth much more than sparrows.” To a Christian, life is a precious gift and cannot be thrown away, especially by suicide. Church fathers have generally been against suicide and they believe that it is a violation of religious teaching. Augustine was one of the first to speak out against it in his book City of God. He wrote that, “to kill oneself is a homicide, and he is much guiltier of his own death.” Aquinas, another church father, put forward three arguments on
Give an account of the ethical arguments in support of suicide.
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Give an account of the ethical arguments in support of suicide. [35] In a broad sense suicide can be defined as, “the act of intentionally ending your life.” However, there are many different types of suicide. Durkheim identified four kinds: egoistic suicide, which is the result of feeling one’s life is meaningless; altruistic suicide, the act of giving one’s life for the greater good; anomic suicide, the result of a major social change that disrupts a person’s sense of order; and fatalistic suicide, the results of excessive regulation, when one’s future is pitilessly blocked by oppressive discipline, such as in a prison or dictatorship. When considering arguments in support of suicide, a good place to start is the sovereignty of the individual. John Stuart Mill commented, “over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” Suicide is an issue of personal autonomy. Personal autonomy is the capacity to decide for oneself and pursue a course of action in one's life, often regardless of any particular moral content. Suicide is the ultimate expression of autonomy, as argued by Seneca: “the one act where the individual can decisively exercise his autonomy.” It should be up to the individual to decide when they wish to die, and it should not be dictated by anyone else. Seneca was a Stoic. The Stoics
Give an account of the main characteristics of Utilitarian theory.
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Give an account of the main characteristics of Utilitarian theory. [35] Utilitarianism is an ethical theory based upon the utility principle: the moral decision is the decision that brings, “the greatest happiness of the greatest number.” It is both teleological and consequentialist. Theories that are interested in ends are teleological, meaning the end does justify the means. You decide the rightness of an action by the end it produces. Stealing or lying is right if it leads to a better situation afterwards – the lie that saves a life; the theft that prevents a person from starving. Consequentialism means judging the rightness or wrongness of actions is based on our assessment of the consequences of our actions. This means we can only judge whether we have done good or bad after the event has taken place. In examining utilitarianism, a good place to start is the views of Bentham. The English philosopher, Jeremy Bentham first formalised the ‘theory of utility’. Bentham argued that good equals the greatest amount of pleasure for the least amount of pain. Bentham’s form of utilitarianism is referred to as Act Utilitarianism. Each individual action is judged good (or bad) purely on the maximisation (or minimisation) of pleasure over pain. This is a quantitive theory as Bentham’s primary concern was with the amount of pleasure
Evaluate the role of love in situation ethics
‘Evaluate the role of love in situation ethics’ Situation ethics is a teleological, relative ethical theory which is based on love.The theory uses motive and states that any rules can be bended if love is best served. Situation ethics is most commonly associated with philosopher such as Joseph Fletcher and JAT Robinson who developed it in the 1960s. A feature of situation ethics is agape which is a Greek term which means 'selfless love'. Fletcher stated that the rule of his theory was that agape love is essential and should be applied to every situation. He used the example of Jesus' quote in the New Testament which was "love thy neighbour" expressing that everyone should consider agape love before making decisions. Fletcher says that any law can be bended in order to make the most loving action. Fletcher uses the term ‘best interest’ which relates into doing whatever will have the best outcome in any situation. This term also links into Singers theory of Utilitarianism which is preference utilitarianism. Both philosophers are looking for the best interests of everybody and not harming anyone. Another feature of situation ethics are the six working principles, one of them is that love is always good, a quote from Fletcher "nothing itself in or itself except love" this quote shows that love is harmless and if everyone considers love for one another there is no harm
Evaluate the claim that Kantian ethics is useful in decision making
Evaluate the claim that Kantian ethics is useful in decision making- Kantian ethics=deontological (acts are intrinsically right or wrong) & absolutist (fixed universal standard of morality) theory used for laws day to day Helpful method; takes the actions into account to judge if an act is right or wrong rather than just consequences Kantian ethics stems from Immanuel Kant; opposed by utilitarian’s such as John Stewart Mill, Peter Singer Here I argue about the deontologist viewpoint of this theory, the idea of good will, and the universal law principle. Kant says Kantian ethics a deontologist theory which means that acts are intrinsically wrong or right so it doesn’t focus on the consequences. Good; consequences my not have to be thought of when judging acts but focus on what should be done if it’s morally right or wrong (just based off the actions). Deontology is helpful; if not people are always going to have to consider multiple consequences; time-consuming, vague/ unreliable. E.g. torture; information may not be useful; it’s unknown BUT torture is intrinsically wrong itself so Kant would say no torture. However, in a utilitarian viewpoint it is teleological viewpoint meaning unlike Kantian ethics it is based on consequences which make an act right or wrong, this is followed through by John Mill and Peter Singer. This can be a better approach as an act
Examine what is meant by situation ethics
Situation Ethics Examine what is meant by situation ethics (14) "Christianity has traditionally been dominated by natural law thinking and Situation Ethics arose out of this background" (The Puzzle of Ethics, by Peter Vardy and Paul Grosch, page 123). In the 1966 an Anglican theologian, Joseph Fletcher published a book called "Situation Ethics" in which he rejected previous deontological ethical systems. It would be wrong to believe that Fletcher founded the idea of Situation Ethics because, as I have already stated, Situation ethics has its foundations in the natural law thinking of the Christian Church. Fletcher claimed there were three possible approaches to ethics. There was the deontological approach where you have a set of rules that may never be broken, no matter what the circumstances. Fletcher believed this inflexible approach created a poor ethical system because it put the law first and made the law the most important thing. The Ten Commandments is a good example of this. Take "thou shalt not steal", is it right to steal a gun from a man who intends to use it to murder his wife? If you believe that the law is intrinsically good and should be put first then you would not steal the gun. This example illustrates the problem with the deontological approach, because in these circumstances it would be ethically good to not steal the gun and allow the man to murder
Evil and Suffering
What is meant by the problem of evil and suffering? [8] The problem of evil and suffering is perhaps the greatest of all challenges to religious belief. It is the difficulty of reconciling the existence of wickedness in the world with the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent God. It is best explained in the inconsistent triad; a vertex dating from Epicurus and Augustine that acknowledges the main problem believers face; how can there be a deity that is all good, powerful and knowing if evil exists, as the problem of evil itself is a contradiction within the idea of a deity. The problem of evil is an extensive problem. Whether malum culpae; moral evils we inflict upon one another (murder), or malum poenae; evil caused by natural occurrences (earthquakes) it is the direct cause of the suffering we endure each day. Different religious perspectives require different answers; the 'problem of evil', which in itself has numerous debatable aspects, is therefore interpreted in different ways by atheists, agnostics and theists. To theists particularly, the existence of evil in our world poses more than a merely philosophical or apologetic problem; it creates a very personal religious one, as although our painful experience may not challenge our belief that God exists, what may be at risk is our confidence in a God we can freely worship and love, and in whose love