Ethics and the end-of-life care

Abstract

The basis for much of what we find to be ethics rests in theory and principles. Although the terms ethics and morality represent the same concept and therefore are interchangeable, we generally use the term ethics. Bioethics is the common term for ethics in the biosciences, which includes medicine. The term morality seems to have a religious overtone. We will examine the concepts from a Western perspective, but ethical principles should truly be considered universal and not dependent on location. Although this might not necessarily be true, discussion of that issue is beyond the scope of this chapter. The study of bioethics is based on four simple concepts - autonomy, beneficence, justice, and nonmaleficence - that we will review briefly.1,2 © 2010 Springer-Verlag US.