Moral Standards and Dilemmas

Study Notes

A situation where conflicting moral principles make it difficult to choose the right action.

Human acts: Deliberate and subject to moral evaluation.
Acts of Man: Instinctive actions with no moral judgment.
Example: Donating to charity is a human act, while sneezing is an act of man.

The intention behind an action influences its moral worth.
Example: Helping someone genuinely is morally different than helping them for personal gain.

The context or situation can affect the moral evaluation of an action.
Example: Self-defense is ethically justified, while unprovoked aggression is not.

Egoism: Focuses on self-interest as the primary motivation for action.
Example: Choosing a career solely based on salary potential.
Utilitarianism: Aims to maximize overall happiness and minimize suffering.
Example: Implementing public health policies to benefit the majority, even if some individuals are inconvenienced.
Moral Relativism: Suggests that morality is subjective and varies across cultures and individuals.
Example: Different cultural views on end-of-life care.
Situation Ethics: Emphasizes love and compassion as guiding principles, allowing for flexibility in specific situations.
Example: A nurse bending visiting hour rules to allow a dying patient's family to be with them.
Kantian Ethics (Deontological ): Focuses on moral duties and principles, emphasizing acting out of a sense of duty and treating people as ends in themselves, not means to an end.
Example: Always telling the truth, even if it leads to negative consequences.
Virtue Ethics: Stresses the development of moral character and virtues like compassion, integrity, and courage.
Example: A nurse demonstrating empathy and patience when caring for a difficult patient.

Ethics provides a framework for distinguishing right from wrong and offers reasons for those distinctions.
Freedom enables moral decision-making, allowing individuals to act according to their values.
Understanding human biology is important for nurses to provide effective care.
Bioethics addresses ethical issues arising from biology and medicine.
Health ethics guides professional behavior and decision-making in healthcare.
Professional ethics ensures professionals act in accordance with their roles and responsibilities.
Virtue ethics emphasizes the importance of developing good moral character and acting in accordance with virtues.
The categorical imperative in Kantian ethics states that one should only act in ways that they would want everyone else to act.
The four cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.