Principles and Theories of ethics Essay

In their quest to seek for solutions on ethical issues, human beings have constantly been formulating theories. These theories form an important point from where any investigation should be launched. As people invent new ideas or even improve on the current existing ideas, more challenges and complications come up. This has been observed in the modern world where scientific advancement has seemed to dominate in every field of knowledge. Among these fields of scientific inventions is the medical field which many people have believed to reduce the mortality rate and at the same time increased the life expectancy among many people in the world. Despite all these, fertility rate has seemed to reduce among the people while the terminal illnesses have been rapidly increasing. It is this reason that many doctors and medical practitioners have joined hands to look for long lasting solutions to these problems. Some of these solutions have been unearthed, which include the use of stem cells in treating patients with these problems. This has however raised many questions especially on issues concerning ethical justifications. This paper therefore examines two of such works that were carried out by Dr Shroff and Dr. Kerkis as reported in articles entitled ‘mice have been used to make human sperm’ and ‘Stem cell treatment lets Aussie breathe’ respectively. (http://www. news. com. au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23768047-5012754,00. html ; http://search. news. com. au/search? us=ndmperthnow&sid=5012760&as=NEWS. WORLD. CANDSAMERICA&ac=TST&q=Mice%20to%20replace%20men%20as%20sperm%20donors ) According to Rainbow C, there exist four principles of ethics. These include; least harm, justice beneficence and respect for autonomy. According to the principle to the principle of least harm, it is prudent to make a choice that will harm the least number of people. The choice made should also result to the least harm to the people involved. In the modern world, there are so many men who are willing to have children but unable because their sperms are not viable. According to the research, there is still hope for couples who experience such problems. The use of mice in production of human sperms therefore adheres to the principle of least harm and thus justices the use of mice in production of viable human sperms. The extraction of the dental pulp from teeth is however harmful but there harm is less as compared to the inability of a man to produce viable sperms. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) The principle of justice on the other hand encourages actions that are fair to the concerned. Such a decision should be consistent and based on logic unless justified otherwise by existence of justified extenuating circumstances. In the case of mice and human sperm cells production, it should be noted that the men are first given the opportunity to try their best to get children in the natural way. Professional medical practitioners who exploit any other alternative of dealing with such a situation confirm their inability. The couples are finally given the chance to choose what is good for them and thus the use of mice is only for those who are willing. This therefore adheres to the principle of justice. Dr Kerkis has also made it clear that she first used stem cells from dental pulp that was extracted from ‘a male donor’. It therefore means that the process is justified by the adhearing to the principle of justice since the consent of the concerned was first sought. (http://www. lancs. ac. uk/fss/resources/ethics/theories. htm ; http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html) According to beneficence principle, people must do all that is seen to be good. Just like the utility principle, it is always advisable to maximize what is good and minimize the evil. It is very true to say that the greater the amounts of good that people do, the more the benefits. According to this principle, production of viable human sperm cells by mice will do well to those who are unable. Apart from improving the psychological health of the concerned, it will also strengthen family bonds that may otherwise be weakened by the inability to get children especially in those communities where children are highly valued as an important ingredient in a happy marriage. (http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html ) According to the principle of respect for autonomy, it is very important to ‘allow people to reign over themselves and to be able to make decisions that apply to their lives ’. This is based on the fact that only an individual can understand why he/she chooses a particular lifestyle. Since every human being must be respected, any decision, especially that which involves intimate issues, must come from him. In order to do so, he must get enough information in the consequences and finally, his consent must be obtained. The reason is because every human being has hisher emotions and motivations that heshe understands from hisher own life experiences. It is the right for every person to lead a life style that he she actually enjoys in which the control over it is vested in hisher decision. It is however important to realize that there exists two perspectives of autonomy respects; paternalists and libertarians views. According to paternalistics, ‘an authority prioritizes a dependent person’s best interests over the dependent person’s wishes’. In the case of mice and human sperms, since the man is aware of his inability to produce viable sperms even though he may wish to have children, he has the freedom to choose to live without them. If he decides so and realizes more satisfaction without the children than using mice to produce viable sperms, he becomes libertarian. When his wife and medical practitioner convinces him to use mice to get children, the principle of autonomy is violated and he becomes a paternalistic since his wish may not be based on the use of mice in producing the viable sperms even though his interest is to get children. Libertarian perspective is therefore observed when the person’s wish is prioritized over hisher best interest. The person maintains hisher autonomy over hisher decision. (Allan J. Kimmel, 1988, pp. 42) In the case of stem cells treatment for the paralyzed man is Australia, the principle of least harm is violated since the extraction of the embryonic stem cells will cost the life of the unborn child irregardless of whether the concerned woman’s consent was given or not. Human life ideally begins after fertilization and it is wrong to deprive the unborn of its right to live in favor of a person who has already had the chance to be born. If such actions were to be encouraged, many people will never live to be born and this will cause more harm than treating the paralyzed people especially if Dr Shroff’s vision is to be realized as expressed by her hopes â€Å"her technology would be made available around the world to patients suffering from incurable diseases and terminal conditions. † Dr Shroff’s technology also contradicts the principle of justice. The fact that there are many incurable diseases and terminal conditions that may be cured using embryonic stem cells does not justify the act of depriving the unborn the right to life. It will therefore be an act of injustice to deprive the unborn of their right to life. The only extenuating circumstance should be when the woman’s pregnancy threatens the life of both the unborn and its mother. The doctor’s advice should be sought and any alternative exploited before the decision to terminate the pregnancy and donate the embryonic stem cells is arrived. It should be realized however that this would result to paternalistic autonomy. Dr Shroff’s technology will also violate the principle of beneficence. This is because the embryo will not benefit in any way from the act of donating its stem cells. The embryo itself cannot give permission to donate the stem cells. The principle of autonomy is not spared either. The patient may enjoy a paternalistic autonomy but the embryo, which is indeed a human being does not have autonomy to decide on whether to donate the stem cells or not . For a person to make any sound decision on any issue, the principles however form the basis of ethical themes. According to rainbow C, there are five major ethical theories. These include virtual ethical theory, deontological theory, casuist theory and utilitarianism ethical theory. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) According to virtual ethical theory, a person is not judged through his/her actions but through his/her character. An action may not necessary indicate a persons normal behavior since behavior and action are normally conflicting. It is however important to observe an individual’s reputation, motivation and morals while making any judgment on any behavior that may seem to be unusual, irregular or unethical. It should however be observed that any individuals change of character is not put into consideration in this theory. This theory justifies the use of embryonic stem cells in the treatment of paralyzed patients. The assumption is that the doctors and the medical practitioners who actually carry out the process of extracting and injecting the stem cells into his/her victims body are people who are trusted and socially approved by the members of the community. Their character justifies their actions and thus they should not be questioned about what they do as long as a patient’s life is saved. The act of extracting the embryonic stem cells cannot be used to prove the doctor as guilty of murder as long as his/her record of accomplishment in this profession of medicine is clean. According to Rainbow C, the society’s rights are ethically correct and must be protected and prioritized while making any decision. All societies’ rights are ethically valid because the majority in any society endorses them. Those who have the power and resources may bestow rights upon people. The society is therefore responsible for deciding on what should be considered as a society is right. The issue of mice producing viable human sperm cells may not be welcomed by many societies. This is because many people do not think that human beings and animals especially the mice can share sperm cells. A child produced by such sperms may be isolated from the other people and this may cause more suffering and harm to it than good. Termination of human life is also unacceptable in the society. This is evident in countries where Christianity is the dominant religion. If the use of contraceptives is criminalized in such societies, it is even worse to extract embryonic stem cells to treat paralyzed people or even those with terminal illnesses. In such societies, everybody has the right to live and those people who are already born should seek medication incase of any ailment but not to destroy a life in order to save themselves. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) According to deontological theory, people’s obligation and duties that have been assigned to them should guide them in the process of solving ethical dilemmas. By so doing, the person is believed to have done what was ethically correct. Doctors should help sick people. In this case, sickness refers to any abnormal functioning or dysfunctional of any body organ. Those people who cannot produce viable sperm cells should seek medical attention and the doctors have a duty and obligation to ensure that such people can get children. The theory therefore justifies Dr Kerkis and Dr Shroff’s actions. It is a doctor’s obligation to ensure that all incurable diseases and terminal conditions are adequately dealt with. The casuist ethical theory is based on the assumption that the current dilemma in question can be successfully solved in a similar way to previously solved dilemmas. This theory therefore compares the current ethical problem with past and similar ethical dilemmas that were successfully solved. It therefore justifies Dr Kerkis and Dr Shroff’s actions since their previous works as medical practitioners have been reported to bare good fruits. It however fails to acknowledge that a similar ethical dilemma may not have been witnessed before. (http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/505222_2 ; http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) The utilitarianism ethical theory supports any choice that produces the most benefit to most people. Such a choice is seen to be ethically correct. This theory therefore foresees the outcome of an act and judges it based on the benefits that are likely to accrue. There are two types of utilitarianism. These include act utilitarian and rule utilitarianism. According to rainbow c, â€Å" In act utilitarianism, a person performs the acts that benefit the most people, regardless of personal feelings or the societal constraints such as laws. Rule utilitarianism, however, takes into account the law and is concerned with fairness. A rule utilitarian seeks to benefit the most people but through the fairest and most just means available. Therefore, added benefits of rule utilitarianism are that it values justice and includes beneficence at the same time† (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) Two or more of these ethical theories should be combined in order to make the best ethical decision. For instance, I would solve Dr Kerkis dilemma by applying utilitarianism ethical theory, rights ethical theory and casuist ethical theory. I would also solve Dr Shroff’s ethical dilemma by applying rights ethical theory, utilitarianism ethical theory and virtue ethical theory. (http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Ethics/notes. html ) Conclusion All the ethical theories have common goals that must be achieved for them to be successful. These common goals are the previously discussed ethical principles. It is important to realize that different points are emphasized by the theories that help people to arrive at a decision that is ethically correct. Different people usually use ethical theories in a different way depending on their individual experiences. The theories and principles of ethics lay a good foundation of analyzing actions since they guide people in making ethical decisions. This means that whether Dr Kerkis and/or Dr Shroff are justified or not to proceed with their work or not depends on which principle as well as the ethical theory an individual bases his /her ethical analysis. References Rainbow C, Descriptions of Ethical Theories and Principles, [Retrieved] 8th August, 2008, [From] http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm Lancaster University, Ethical theories [Retrieved] 4th August, 2008. [From] http://www. lancs. ac. uk/fss/resources/ethics/theories. htm Ethical theories compared http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html relations between utilitarian, deontological, and Aristotelian ethical theories Lawrence M. Hinman, Introduction: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory Excerpted from: Lawrence M. Hinman, Contemporary Moral Issues, 2nd ed. (Prentice-Hall, 1999). Ethical theories [Retrieved] 1st August 2008, [From] http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Ethics/notes. html Ethical Theories, Principles, and Decision-Making Models, [Retrieved] 3rd August, 2008 [From] http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/505222_2 Allan J. Kimmel, 1988, Ethics and Values in Applied Social Research: Ethics and Values in Applied Social Research, SAGE. Stem cell treatment lets Aussie breathe http://www. news. com. au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23768047-5012754,00. html Perth now Sunday times, July 7th, Mice to replace men as sperm donors http://search. news. com. au/search? us=ndmperthnow&sid=5012760&as=NEWS. WORLD. CANDSAMERICA&ac=TST&q=Mice%20to%20replace%20men%20as%20sperm%20donors