Philosophical Approaches to Ethics. I Did Not

¶ … philosophical approaches to ethics. I did not begin this course with an extensive understanding of normative ethics. Instead, because the utilitarian approach is similar to my own, I assumed that most people had a utilitarian approach to ethics. Not that I would advocate an overt harm to an individual in order to help society, but I believed that the right choice would be dictated by the greatest good. I agreed with the notion that "we choose the course of action that provides the greatest benefits after the costs have been taken into account" (Andre & Velasquez, 2010). However, what I did not realize is that I was also employing some deontological perspectives in my own personal normative ethics. There are some lines that I feel should never be crossed, which is deontological in its orientation. "In contrast to consequentialist theories, deontological theories judge the morality of choices by criteria different from the states of affairs those choices bring about" (Alexander & Moore, 2012). For example, I feel like it might be morally permissible to kill one baby (or at least allow the baby to die) in order to save millions of people, I would never say that raping one baby would ever be morally permissible. Understanding that my personal ethical perspective does not fit neatly into any pre-set ideals was actually very helpful to me.

I think the work I did in the session for the class was decent. I tried to incorporate what I was learning into the classwork as it was assigned. Honestly, for me, so much of the material was through-provoking that I felt as if assignments were rushed. I did much thinking about the ethical and moral questions and issues underpinning the facts that I learned. I think this detracted from my ability to complete the course work to the best of my ability, but I think it increased my ultimate understanding of the material. I feel as if this understanding is even more important than any grade I could have received in the class. Therefore, I do not know that I would actually change anything about the work that I did because I am happy with my comprehension of course material.

I am having some problems understanding the physical privacy aspects of the course. It seems like so much of the issues surrounding physical privacy are done to protect patient's feelings, rather to cause an actual increase in patient privacy. I would be interested to see if patients are actually comforted by these measures. Perhaps adding some case studies of these issues to the course would make them clearer for future students.

I do not believe that there is an objective way to measure the effects of what I have learned in the course. However, I can already see a subjective difference in my thought process. As I previously stated, really focusing on normative ethics and the different ethical approaches made me realize that not everyone approaches ethical issues in the same way that I do. I think that this will help me keep in mind that what I believe is unethical may simply be perfectly ethical under another person's valid ethical approach. If I can keep that in mind, I can only see ways that would improve my life.