Utilitarianism In Nursing Ethics

Utilitarianism is when an effort is made to try and provide an answer to a practical question. Utilitarianism relies on a theory of intrinsic value. They believe it’s possible to compare the intrinsic value to compare two actions and predict which one would have a better consequence. Utilitarian’s don’t always refer to a choice as a moral issue (West).

The two main aims of a moral theory are a theoretical aim and a practical aim. A theoretical aim refers back to contrasting between an action being right or wrong. Also, can be between a person or something being good or bad. Under the surface of the action or person lies an answer to whether it is right or wrong, or, good or bad.

I will be elaborating more on the person of Moral Worth and Virtue throughout this essay, while comparing and contrasting the two elements. Aristotle believes a morally ideal person is someone of virtue. Aristotle believes that, “All actions and decisions aim at some good,” [I.1] in which all ends

Since ethical egoism states that “it is individualistic, and the right thing to do is maximize one’s own utility,” then this dilemma holds true (Burgess-Jackson, 2013, p. 532). Occupational therapists help not only for the good of the patient, but also for the well-being of themselves. It makes them look and feel good when they see that they are helping patients meet their goals and they will do whatever they can to ensure that that happens. They are doing all that they can to help, even when it is outside of their own competence, for their own personal gain.

This seems to make sense, as if one is a moral person, there must be some aim of the morality. She continues this by saying “For surely he must want others to be happy. To deny this would be to deny that benevolence is a virtue-and who wants to deny that?” (47) By saying this, she says that benevolence, or caring about others’ welfare or happiness, is definitely a virtue.

The divine command theory, utilitarianism, Kant’s duty defined morality, natural law theory, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics are the five types of ethical theories. The divine command theory states that what is morally right and wrong will be decided by God. Utilitarianism states that “Action “A” is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest amount of overall happiness. Kant’s duty defined morality states that what is important is acting for the sake of producing good consequences, no matter what the act is. Natural law theory states that people should focus on the good and avoid any evil.

11 UTILITARISM TO DEONTOLOGY Sketch the main points in Smart 's version of utilitarianism. Compare with a deontological view of ethics and discuss deontological objections to utilitarianism. Number of words with footnotes: 3169 Utilitarism and deontology are two opposing ethical theories. On the one hand, J. J. C. Smart represents the utilitarian view of ethics, while on the other hand Charles Fried represents the deontological. Both point to fundamental features of their interpretations as well as some criticism of the other party.

I believe that the nurse leader ought to first have the nursing expertise and be able to utilize interpersonal skills to influence and empower the other nurses to deliver quality nursing care. Importantly, I would only consider nursing leadership effective when the leader is directly and actively involved in clinical care provision as that provides opportunities to improve care provision by influencing the nurses that one is leading. Notably, improvements would not be guaranteed if nursing leadership is restricted to management as leadership is founded on the strength of the opinions that the leaders raise, which I believe applies to nursing profession. On considering the aspect of interpersonal skills, I would focus my nursing leadership efforts on team building, establishing respect and confidence in other nurses, coming up with a vision and empowering them.

Aristotles starting point is with the highest good. It is the ultimate end goal. The highest human good is always worth pursuing in its own right. It is an activity that is an end in itself. This conception allows him to isolate two features of what he determines the ‘end goal’ or ‘final purpose’.

First, the authors state that truth commissions should be moral in principle; commissions “should explicitly appeal to rights… that are moral and therefore are comparable to the justice that is being sacrificed.” (23) They also claim that truth commissions “should be moral in perspective” in that those commissions should maintain a

Immanuel Kant has the concept of finding the core answer of a certain category. To look for the equation to move forward when you are involved or part of a project. It requires applying the concept of the categorical imperative. Moreover, Immanuel Kant moral theory would be actions are morally right in virtue of your motives that derive from a person’s needs or from his/her inclination. For example, right action is defined as morally precise to those individual with

The theory of right and wrong characteristics or good and bad behaviors is concerned with morality; its role can shape an individual’s personality which can affect his or her call of action. It is only natural that we should have some kind of sense of duty and physical forces from our experiences that make us have moral laws. It’s an aspect of humanity which helps them make rational decisions and it also serves as guidance for mere goodness. Our existence defines who we are as an individual because of our values that help us see past our wrongdoing and helps improve our future. This can be seen in Sophocles’ story of “Antigone,” Antigone’s character portrays a strong individual who is loyal and values her family more than the society.

There were two prominent ideas from the Sandel text that applied to the ethical issue I chose to examine. John Stuart Mill had two theories about Utilitarianism and the valuing of life in regards to harm and autonomy. Secondly, was Kant’s determination of the moral valuing of life. Mill, a Utilitarian, discussed the notion of justice and that all people are cognoscente beings and, as such, are entitled to self-defense. Mill’s assertions are important because he determines that everyone has a right to act of their own volition, provided that they do not harm others.

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states that the best action is the one that maximizes helpfulness. In this theory, punishment is warranted only if it promotes over-all happiness. C.S. Lewis refers to utilitarianism as humanitarian in his essay. Contrary to the general humanitarian viewpoint, which sees punishment as precautionary, Lewis believes that it denies criminals of their humanity. He states, "when we cease to consider what the criminal deserves and consider only what will cure him or deter others, we have tacitly removed him from the sphere of justice altogether; instead of a person, a subject of rights, we now have a mere object, a patient, a 'case."

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory summed up by the phrase, the right action is one which creates the sum total amount of happiness for the greatest number. Therefore, utilitarians believe that morality’s purpose is to maximise the number of good things, such as happiness, and decrease the number of bad things, such as unhappiness, in the world. Critics of utilitarianism believe that this theory cannot accommodate moral rights since we go against our intuitions in moral dilemmas. However, utiltarians have a response to these criticisms which shows that utilitarianism is defensible. Utilitarianism was developed into an ethical theory by two philosophers named Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.