1 / 6

Utilitarian Bioethics

Utilitarian Bioethics. What is it?. Recommends directing medical resources where they will do the most long-term effect for good Decisions are made based upon an individual’s future productive potential (& happiness) Productivity must supersede expenditure Value is a zero-sum game

wises
Download Presentation

Utilitarian Bioethics

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Utilitarian Bioethics

  2. What is it? • Recommends directing medical resources where they will do the most long-term effect for good • Decisions are made based upon an individual’s future productive potential (& happiness) • Productivity must supersede expenditure • Value is a zero-sum game • $100 example

  3. To exemplify: • Nurse or doctor caring for an Alzheimer’s / or terminal patient is “wasting” resources • No chance for productive/happy life • Better spent caring for a sick baby or 20-year-old gunshot victim • Again, productivity is the measuring stick

  4. Benefits • Resources are spent where they can be most beneficial to society (as a whole) • Overall increase in productivity and happiness • Less taxing on limited resources

  5. Potential downsides: • What is “happiness”? • Doctors play God • Bigotry against the “feeble” • Retarded, handicapped, generally sick • Lack of scientific progress • Why explore cures for cancer?

  6. Futile medical care: • Where there is no hope, there should be no course of treatment • Different from euthanasia • Does not hasten, speed or encourage death • Laws are currently being explored: Futile Care Law (Texas)

More Related