Transcript Ethical Thinking Video Powerpoint

Values, Morals, and Ethics
Biology
Rene LaMontagna
Critical and Ethical
Thinking in Science…
Values:
• are qualities that
signify what is
important and
worthwhile. Values
serve as the basis for
moral codes and ethical
reflection.
• Each of you has your
own values based on
family, religion, peers,
culture, race, social
background, gender etc.
• Example: Life is to be
valued, in other words
life is sacred.
Morals:
• Are codes of conduct
governing behavior.
They are an expression
of values reflected in
actions and practices.
• What you do or don’t
do based on your
values.
• Morals can held at an
individual or
community level and
are culturally bound.
• Example based on
values: “One should
not kill”
Ethics:
• Provides a systematic,
rational way to work
through dilemmas and to
determine the best
course of action in the
face of conflicting
choices.
Ethics attempts to find and
describe what people
believe is right and
wrong, and to establish
whether certain actions
are actually right or
wrong based on all the
information available.
Example: “If killing is wrong,
can one justify the death
penalty or kill in selfdefense?”
Bioethics:
• Is a subfield of ethics
applied to the life
sciences.
• The discipline of bioethics
helps us, as a society,
make decisions about
how best to use scientific
knowledge, how to make
policy decisions regarding
medicines or treatments,
and how we should
behave with each other
What is an ethical question?
• Involve the words “ought” or “should” implying a
difficult decision must be made.
• There are several alternative solutions, none that
is without some challenging or problematic
aspect
• They contain conflicting moral choices and
dilemmas, and the underlying values of the
people may clash.
• They have no right or wrong answer which
satisfies all parties, but better or worse answers
based on well-reasoned justifications.
There are different types of questions besides
ethical…
• Pertaining to law (legal)
• Pertaining to science (scientific method)
• Pertaining to Religious/Cultural (what’s in line
with a particular belief)
• Pertaining to Personal Preference ( influenced
by cultural bias)
Which of these are ethical questions? What are
others?
• A. Is it legal to sell human kidneys in the United States?
• B. How does a kidney function inside the body?
• C. What does my religion say about whether or not it is acceptable
to donate a kidney?
• D. Should individuals who donate a kidney choose who their organ
should go to?
• E. What type of diet allows for the best athletic performance?
• F. Is killing someone always illegal?
• G. Should people select the sex of their child in advance?
• H. Are same sex marriages constitutional?
• I. What is the most appropriate way to worship?
• J. Do kidneys taste good?
8 Key questions
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Fairness - How can I act equitably and balance legitimate interests?
Outcomes - What achieves the best short- and long-term outcomes for me and all
others?
Responsibilities - What duties and/or obligations apply?
Character - What action best reflects who I am and the person I want to become?
Liberty - How does respect for freedom, personal autonomy, or consent apply?
Empathy - What would I do if I cared deeply about those involved?
Authority - What do legitimate authorities (e.g. experts, law, my religion/god)
expect of me?
Pandemic Flu Exercise
• What type of question is the following?:
• Who should be saved during a flu outbreak
when there is not enough life-saving vaccine
available for everybody?
• Fill out form.
• I present topic for ethical thinking questions,
but I don’t give specifics until after I ask them
to determine which of the 8 key questions are
most critical to processing the issue.
• Then I lead them through filling out the “tug
sheet”, which has been revised by adding 8
key questions to certain sections.
• Then I help them map “tug sheet” to
questions for the assignment.