How Bioethical Standpoints Influence Biomedical Decisions

1. How Bioethical Standpoints Influence Biomedical Decisions EXAMPLES

2. Because of “god” (pure actuality), all of reality is goal-directed People are goal-directed to tell the truth (just look at the virtuous person), so one ought to tell the truth I tell the truth in this situation Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

3. Another Way to Visualize This (Top-Down)…

4. God, who is Love, graciously creates and sustains reality One ought to love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself I give to charity Aquinas’ Christian Ethics GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

5. Aquinas’ General Characterization of Natural Morality

6. Aquinas’ General Characterization of Natural Morality Also the view of John Locke and the US Founding Fathers

7. I’m an existential nihilist, life is mine, there is nothing else… One ought to end the pain, if it becomes unbearable I knowingly and willingly commit suicide Existential Nihilism GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

8. I’m a religious terrorist, there is always collateral damage in a war, my reward will be great in heaven… One ought to die, if necessary, to further the cause, ideology… I knowingly and willingly commit suicide Religious Terrorism GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

9. If the technology is there, one should use it for research, the good I harvest human embryonic stem cells for research I’m a neuroscientist, mind/soul with moral claims comes to be only with a complex nervous system… Neuroscience GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

10. One ought never to harm a living being, especially one that is sentient I would never eat a cow or use it in experiments I’m a pantheistic Hindu, all of reality is one, sacred, and imbued with autonomy and respect… Pantheistic Hinduism GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

11. One ought to use animals for human benefits (if we must…) I would eat a cow and use it in experiments I’m a standard monotheist, God has created us in His Image (we’re most important); we are to “subdue” animals… Standard Monotheism GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

12. One ought to trust in God’s love and not “thwart” God’s intervention No one will operate on my child’s throat cancer I’m a Christian Scientist, all that really exists are souls and God; bodies and other matter are mere illusions… Christian Science GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

13. Another Way to Visualize This (Top-Down)… GROUNDED IN GROUNDED IN

14. TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: CATHOLIC POSITION

15. TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: (A POSSIBLE) UTILITARIAN POSITION

16. TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: (ANOTHER POSSIBLE) UTILITARIAN POSITION

17. TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: (A POSSIBLE) DEONTOLOGICAL POSITION

18. TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: (ANOTHER POSSIBLE) DEONTOLOGICAL POSITION

19. TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: (A POSSIBLE) VIRTUE ETHICS POSITION

20. TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: CHRISTIAN VIRTUE ETHICS POSITION

21. Thank You Robert Arp, Ph.D. Ontology Research Group (ORG) www.org.buffalo.edu National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) www.bioontology.org This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health through the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical Research, Grant 1 U 54 HG004028. Information on the National Centers for Biomedical Computing can be found at: http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/bioinformatics.