Morality and Standpoints - Medical Ethics

Morality and Standpoints

·        Standpoints: law, religious belief, social conventions, morality – all give standpoints from which can define right and wrong – and they may disagree

·        The scope of morality:

o   Self-imposed from within (cf. law – imposed form without)

o   Prescriptive: guides my action 

o   Has universal character (moral principles don‟t always apply to everyone – but demand consistency in judgements)

o   But these things don‟t demarcate morality from other standpoints

·        Bernard Gert: morality is a public system applying to all rational persons governing behaviour which affects others and which has the minimisation of evil as its end. I.e. it is an „invention‟ for improving the human condition

·        4 competing concepts of ethics:

o   General principles impinging on human well-being 

o   Principles providing a practical antidote to certain types of behaviour (e.g. those which exhibit limited sympathies) which impact on human well-being 

o   Principles guiding the behaviour of a particular professional group (which makes a distinctive contribution to he human good) 

o   Principles focusing on a particular dimension of human well being