Bioethics Study Guide Exam One - What is ethics? Why study ethics?o Ethics asks basic questions about the good life, about what is better and worse, about whether there is any objective right and wrong, and how we know it if thereis. It is the philosophical study of morality. This is different than a scientific, psychological, or social study of morality (descriptive ethics). Ethics is not the study of what is legal or socially accepted or tolerated; it is the study/pursuit of trying to discover reasonable general principles that will help us decide what we ought to do and what we ought not to do in all cases. Ethics is normative.- Descriptive claims- describe (say how the world in fact/is/was/will be). Examples: 5 out of 10 dentists use Crest. One of the beliefs I have is that lying is bad. I want to lie. The Ten Commandments tell us not to lie. People who lie are held in low esteem by others. - Normative claims- prescribe (say what should be done) or evaluate (say what’s good/bad). Examples: It’s wrong to tell a lie. You shouldn’t tell a lie. - Biomedical ethics (Why needed? What can Philosophy contribute?) o The examination of ethical issues associated with the practice of medicine and medical research. Within the last thirty years biomedical ethics has become increasingly important (major advances in research, the practice of medicine have become increasingly complicated from an institutional perspective. Historically, ethical codes were written by professionals within the discipline with no referenceto Philosophy. Professionals within such professions have all of the “descriptive” information but may be lacking in a foundation for forming a “normative” or ethical theory. - What can we gain from taking a biomedical ethics class?o More clarity and better understanding about what is right and wrong, therefore, more confidence about our choices and about the reasoning process we use to defend our behavior. Understanding about other possible and legitimate ways to arrive at ethical answers; tolerance about different approaches. Understanding some of the pitfalls involved in trying to differentiate right from wrong. Preparation for situations different from the ones we usually encounter (in daily life, most people will reason analogically—in terms of like cases and answers which worked previously). - Traits of moral principles:o Prescriptivity- the action-guiding nature of morality. Generally, moral principles are put forth as commands or imperatives e.g. “Do not kill”, “Do no unnecessary harm”. Intended to advise people and influence action. o Universalizability- must apply to all people in a similar situation. If I judge that act X is right for a certain person P, then it is right for anyone relevantly similar toP. o Overridingness- moral principles have predominant authority and override other kinds of principles. They are not the only principles, but they also take precedenceover other considerations including legal ones. E.g. if the law becomes egregiously immoral, it may be my moral duty to exercise civil disobedience.o Publicity- moral principles must be made public in order to guide our actions. If we are using these principles to prescribe behavior, give advice, and assign blame and praise then publicity is necessary.o Practicability- the principle must be workable and not place too heavy a burden on us when we follow it. - Logic- philosophy deals with ideas, views, opinions, theories and beliefs in a rigorous and critical way. Logic is the study of reasoning. It attempts to identify and apply objective methods for distinguishing good reasoning from bad reasoning.o Argument- an argument is a set of statements intended to persuade an audience that a particular statement (the argument’s conclusion) is true based on one or more other statements (the premises).o Premise- a premise is a statement in an argument which, by itself or with other statements, is supposed to provide compelling reasons for accepting the argument’s conclusion.o Conclusion- a conclusion is the statement in an argument that the argument’s author wishes to establish as true. It is often the most controversial statement in the argument. o Validity- in a valid argument the reasoning is good. Validity is the function of the relationship in which the premises and conclusion stand. In a valid argument the conclusion follows the premise.o Soundness- a sound argument is a valid argument in which all of the premises are true. So, there are two conditions which an argument must fulfill in order to succeed (to be sound): 1. All of its premises must be true. 2. It must be valid. o Deductive argument- the conclusion is guaranteed by the truth of the premises. A valid deductive argument is one that follows a correct logical form so that, if the premises are true, the conclusion must also be true. For example: 1. Socrates is a man. 2. All men are mortal. 3. Therefore, Socrates is mortal. o Inductive argument- claims only a high degree of probability for the conclusion. For example: 1. Socrates was Greek. 2. Most Greeks eat fish. 3. Socrates ate fish. - Errors in reasoning:o Naturalistic fallacy- the assumption that because some quality or combination of qualities invariably and necessarily accompanies the quality of goodness, or is invariably and necessarily accompanied by it, or both, this quality or combination of qualities is identical with goodness. If, for example, it is believed that whateveris pleasant is and must be good, or that whatever is good is and must be pleasant, or both, it is committing the naturalistic fallacy to infer from this that goodness and pleasantness are one and the same quality. The naturalistic fallacy is the assumption that because the words 'good' and, say, 'pleasant' necessarily describe the same objects, they must attribute the same quality to them.o Begging the question- “it’s true because the bible tells us so and the bible is true”.o Ad hominem fallacy- a statement, premise, ECT is rejected because of an irrelevant fact about the author—someone may refuse to accept the merits of recycling because all advocates are hippy losers.o Slippery Slope fallacy- object to something because of the assumption that it will necessarily lead to other undesirable consequences e.g. stem cell research is wrong because it will lead to the cloning of millions of people. - Types of ethical theories- an ethical theory is a systematic exposition