On the index card provided, write the following information…..

• Name• Birthday• Your Email Address• Guardian Name• Guardian Phone Number

Bioethics 9/7/12Objectives:SWBAT recognize and distinguish an ethical issue from other

issues and reason about ethical issues SWBAT explain what bioethics is and explain the principles of

bioethics and how to balance these principles in practice

Initial Activity:

- Write down everything that comes to mind when you see the words “bioethics” and “ethics”

How this class will work!

• Half-year class– Tuesday: lecture– Thursday: debate/discussion– Friday: Game, movie/discussion, identifying moral

arguments, project

What is ethics?

–Morality is a unique feature of human beings which is influenced by history, traditions, education, religious beliefs, etc. –Ethics explores the nature of moral

experience, its causes and effects, reasons and meanings.–We are all “Moral Agents”•What does this mean?

Bioethics 9/10/12

Objectives:SWBAT recognize and distinguish an ethical issue from other issues and reason about ethical issues SWBAT explain what bioethics is and explain the principles of bioethics and how to balance these

principles in practice

Vocabulary: duties, values, bioethics

Initial Activity:

Define the following terms MoralityEthicsMoral Agent

Key Terms

– Morality: Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. Behavior as it is affected by the observation of these principles.

– Ethics: Moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.

– The moral correctness of specified conduct.– Morality (Morals) and Ethics are synonomous– Moral Agent: humans who use the choice to act

within a set of ethics or morals

Values and Duties

– Both are a result of social constructs: each is unique to the culture, time, place

– Values are the background of moral concepts. They are the unique identifiers of a population. They can take the form of principles, norms, laws and virtues.

– Values influence our duties a duty is what we should and shouldn’t do when making a decision• Duties promote the values of a population as much as

possible

Activity: In groups of three, create a list of 4-7 values that you, your culture, religion, or family holds. If done, think about the following questions

• Discussion Points: –How have American values and moral

judgments changed over time?–How are values different across cultures?

Countries? Communities?–How can we account for these changes? What

are the causes?

Bioethics- New term which was coined in 1970 by

biochemist Van Rensselaer Porter in an effort to draw attention to the fact that rapid advances in science had proceeded without the attention being paid to valuesoQuestion: What realms of science do you think this

term would include?- Roots in Greek bio: life and life sciences and

ethos: morals referring to values and duties

- Bioethics is a wide field ranging from health care, environmental concerns, living conditions, technology etc.

- Bioethics can be broken up into three disciplinesoAll actual human beingso Future human beingsoAll living organisms and the environment

Bioethics 9/12/12

Objective: SWBAT define and describe the term bioethics

Initial Activity: Write a list of at least 10 examples of values

Examples of Values

• The principles of Bioethics are founded in the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights– Adopted by the UN.– It is an important step in the search for global

minimum standards in biomedical research and clinical practice

– This course will explore issues through the lens of the declaration

Activity• Begin reading through the document. In your

group, discern the answers to the following questions. Be prepared to discuss the following

• What is the history of the declaration?– Where did it come from?– Why does it exist?

• Why do we need this document? What function does it serve?

• What are some key points from the document?• What is necessary for this document to function?

Homework

• Continue reading the UNESCO document• Identify one article which is of particular

interest to you (maybe for your final project??) Brainstorm about it and write why you find it interesting. Also relate it to anything in current events or history that you can think of.

Bioethics 9/14/12

Objective: SWBAT identify an ethical method of reasoning and evaluate a scenario using this format.

Initial Activity: Please read and annotate the article provided. Add as much commentary to the article as possible.

Double Entry Notebook

Class Notes Case Study Deliberation

Parts of a Moral Deliberation

• The case• Value deliberation• Duty deliberation• Testing consistency• Conclusion

Part 1:The Case

The Case• Identify the facts

including all important players, dates and locations.• Knowing the five W’s will

allow us to best identify the appropriate application of values and judgments

The Case• Joshua McAuley, Age 15• Treated at Selly Oak Hospital in

Birmingham after he was pinned against a wall after a freak car accident

• Serious abdominal and leg injuries

• Died at 5:30 pm• Member of the Kingdom Hall of

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Smethwick Margaret Wood

Part 2: Value Deliberation

Value Deliberation

1. Identify the moral problems

2. Choose the main problem

3. Identify the values at stake: justice, truthfulness, fairness, religious beliefs etc.

Value Deliberation• Minor • Consent to make health

care choices• Member of a religious

organization which prohibits potentially life saving blood transfusions

• Values at stake: religious freedom, independence to make an informed decision

Part 3: Duty DeliberationDuty Deliberation• Identify a course of action. Our duty is to

identify and choose the best course of action, that is, that which promotes the best fulfillment of positive values or that infringes least upon the values at stake.

• You must first identify the different courses of action. The easiest way to do this is to identify the most extreme courses of action. Then, after you do this, decide one course.

• You can ask to guide your duty deliberation:

– How can this moral dilemma be solved by causing the least amount of harm?

– How does the solutions of this case compare with similar situations?

Duty Deliberation• Ex: • There are two main courses of action that

could have been chosen, to give the life saving blood transfusion or not.

• McAuley should have been given the life saving blood transfusion despite the influences of the church and parents. As a patient, a doctor has the duty to save patients. As a parent, it can be considered neglect to prevent your child from receiving medical care that can save their life.

• In similar situations, doctors who administer blood transfusions to Jehovah’s Witnesses can be prosecuted while also there have been instances of exceptions. In a similar situation a man named Edward Strickland who was also a JW received a blood transfusion at the discretion of the physician and lived. Life should be preserved if by saving it causes no physical harm to others because living triumphs.

Part 4: Testing for Consistency

Testing for Consistency– “Checking Your Work”

• Refer to the law or religious doctrine: What does it say in relation to my judgment?

• Would I behave this way/make this decision if it was known that I had done so?

• Was my judgment free and clear of personal problems? Was it done in haste?

• Who/what is not being accounted for, in jeopardy or underrepresented? Why?

Testing for Consistency• In this case it is important to consider which

parties values are to be most considered, the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the discretion of the doctor. In any case, the one which promotes life should triumph.

• According to the Bible which dictates the JW standards on medical ethics Genesis 9:3-4 and Acts 15:19-21 state that they must abstain from consuming unclean blood. Doing so will banish them from the church. However, according to the American Medical Association which dictates the moral code for doctors states that they should choose the course of action which causes the least amount of harm.

• In the course of action I selected the religious rights of the individual are not being taken into account.

Part 5: Conclusion

Conclusion• Definitively agree or

disagree with a course of action and state reasoning why you choose so

Conclusion

Homework

• ADHD Moral Deliberation