Making Ethical Decisions

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Making Ethical Decisions
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Decision 1
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You are an emergency room physician, and you only
have five doses of a certain drug left. Five
patients have mild versions of a condition and
only require a single dose to save their lives.
One patient is so severely ill, that all five
doses would be required to save this one
patients life. Any patient that is not treated
will die! What should you do? What moral
principle can guide your decision?
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Utilitarian Ethics

• Decisions based upon the greatest future good
  (utility) for the greatest number
• good may be individual pleasure, absence of
  pain, intellectual pleasure, etc.
• Cost-benefit approach to decision making
• Negative consequences may occur and even outweigh
  positive for some individuals or groups

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Utilitarian Ethics

• Identify a moral decision for which you feel
  comfortable using a utilitarian approach

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Decision 2
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You are an excellent transplant surgeon and all
your transplants work! You have five patients and
each needs a transplant. One needs a heart, one a
brain, one a lung, one a kidney and one a liver.
Another patient comes in to find the results of
his blood tests. You know from the test results
that this male patient would be an excellent
donor. You have no other prospects for donating
transplants. You decide to ask the patient if he
would be willing to donate his life to save the
lives of the other 5 patients that need a
transplant. The male patient declines your kind
offer, but you realize that you could overpower
him and cut him up without his consent. What
should you do? What moral principle can guide
your decision?
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Deontological Ethics

• Decisions are based upon
• The Rights of Others (i.e. The Bill of Rights
  in the US Constitution. All people are endowed
  with certain unalienable rights)
• Our Duties (i.e. We have a duty to help people
  when they are devastated by a natural disaster.)
• Similar to golden rule of do unto others as you
  would have them do unto you.

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Is it morally wrong to beat on

• your rock?
• your car?
• your tree?
• your dog?
• your child?

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Question of Animal Rights?Are non-human animals?
Beings with value rights If so, what rights do
they have?
Unconscious machines
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Deontological Ethics

• Identify a moral decision for which you feel
  comfortable using a deontological (rights/duties)
  approach

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Decision 3
You are given the assignment in class to read a
chapter in your textbook and answer a set of
questions. Your instructor has clearly indicated
that you are expected to complete the assignment,
but the assignment will not be used in any way to
determine your grade in the class. You are on
your honor to complete the assignment. You find a
sheet in your used textbook with the answers from
the previous semester. You can complete the
assignment but as always there are many other
activities you could choose to occupy the
time. What would you do? What moral theory can
guide your decision?
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Virtue Ethics

• Based on motives and moral character
• What action has the greatest virtue?
• What sort of person should I be and how should I
  live?

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Virtue Ethics

• Identify a moral decision for which you feel
  comfortable using a virtue approach

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3 models for making ethical decisions

• Utilitarian
• What is the greatest good?
• Deontological
• What are the rights and/or duties of those
  involved?
• Virtue Theory
• What is the most virtuous action?

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Decision 4
The driver of a trolley has passed out at the
wheel, and his trolley is hurtling out of control
down the track. Straight ahead on the track are
five people who will be killed if the trolley
reaches them. You are a passerby, who happens to
be standing by the track next to the switch. If
you throw the switch, you will turn the trolley
into a spur of track on the right, thereby saving
the five. Unfortunately, one man is also on that
spur and will be killed if you turn the
trolley. What would you do? What moral
principle can guide your decision?
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Ethical Theories Sometimes Collide

• Switching the track to save the five has more
  utility than saving the one.
• Switching the track to save the five violates the
  rights of the one by doing something that will
  cause harm to another person.
• Arguing about the value of saving five is not
  likely to convince someone who is concerned about
  violating the rights of another person.
• A virtuous person might devise a method to
  sacrifice himself/herself to save both the five
  and the one.