Ethics Principles and theories

Abstract

Clinicians taking care of patients need help unraveling the ethical challenges and conflicts inherent in many situations in everyday practice. They rely largely on their common sense, their basic virtue or goodness, and their experience, and in some cases, legal precedent informs their decision. For example, one need not agonize over the morality of assisted suicide for one's dying, suffering patient in a jurisdiction in which it is illegal. The frameworks for helping to analyze what is morally right or wrong in a situation are based on the bioethics principles and theories. The four classic ethics principles are autonomy (allow the patient the right to self-determination), beneficence (do good for the patient), nonmaleficence (do no harm to the patient), and justice (treat the patient fairly). There are also many theories, most derived from the works of great philosophers. The two most important are utilitarianism (do the act which provides the best result for the greatest number of stakeholders) and deontology (do what is right irrespective of the consequences). This chapter introduces the reader to the principles and theories of ethics.