The Role and Use of Ethics and Health Care in the Real World

Relating Ethics to the Real World

Ethics is a set of values that describe what is right or wrong, and good or bad. Ethics are everywhere and present in everyday situations and are involved in how and in which way humanity acts toward one another and to us. In the 5th century B.C., the great Athenian philosopher says, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Although Socrates and his studies surfaced a long time ago, his ideas and teachings survive and are relevant in today’s society. The Socratic method teaches us to learn through probing questions. He believed in finding truth through argument and debate. A special philosopher, Aristotle, adopted and transformed teachings from Socrates and made his own ethical view. He also attempted to develop a universal method of reasoning by which we could learn everything about reality. He felt that goodness leads the good life. In other words, there is a natural desire for happiness that aligns with our moral selves and if that desire is followed the result would be a life well lived. While they are sometimes used interchangeably, ethics and morals are different. Ethics are the rules provided from an external source (codes of conduct) in workplaces or principles in religions and morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right or wrong.

The law is a set of governing rules that are in place to protect the public. They are in place to make a society as smooth running as possible. There are obviously penalties to breaking the law such as bring fined or imprisoned. An act that is not considered unlawful could still be considered unethical, such as abortion. In the world of health care, an illegal act by a health care practitioner is always wrong or unethical. A doctor should do all that they can to benefit the patient, but an unethical act is not always illegal. Many organizations have ethics guidelines, which give ethical situations and how one should act given they are put in that situation. A doctor may come in contact with a patient and advise the patient come in to be seen. If the patient chooses not to come in to be seen, the doctor would be completely not at fault for what happens to the patient because the patients chose to go against what would be ethical, or right, in that situation. The American Medical Association (AMA) has sets of ethics that members must follow that were written back in 1847, but have obviously been updated to keep up with current policies. These sets of rules tell members of the AMA what is right or wrong in the practice of medicine. Laws and ethics can be the same, but are also sometimes completely different.

Morality is a doctrine or system of ideas concerned with right conduct. It is possible for an action to be right in one way but wrong in another. An example situation of this would be abortion. One could argue that a promiscuous teen that has no self-control couldn’t justify abortion as good as an innocent teen that had been raped, both are considering abortion but is it unjust to situation apply the same justification to both situations? To help justify standards and distribute rights and punishments of those rights, two types of morality need to be considered. One type is individual morality; the morality that dictates decisions of an individual can differ from the morality that steers the decisions of society, which creates the concept of social morality.

An argument is the exchange of diverging or opposite views or a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong. Among the many types of arguments, deductive arguments are used when an injustice towards one party wants justification and tries to apply the situations to all other instances. This typed of argument is outlined as if A, then B or A therefore B. Say if one person were to commit a biblically outlined sin, such as stealing, then they could argue that there sin is no worse than their friend that is an alcoholic. Fallacies are another type of argument, but a lot of times less educated or ignorant to any other view of the argument. They are unreliable means of arguing that does not provide good reason for accepting the argument’s conclusion. An example of a fallacy is a family member or coworker spouting some easily disproven theory like someone thinking President Barrack Obama’s birth certificate is unreal. Although I personally am not an Obama supporter, there is no reason to make an uneducated, un-researched, or bias argument to discount or persuade someone’s opinion of the president strictly from a rumor or ulterior motive just to prove that Obama is a bad president. A sound deductive argument is one that must be valid and all premises must be true. An example of this is arguing against the current health care policy of Obamacare. Someone that agrees with Obamacare and says it is adequate in saving money for health insurance could easily be disproven by the current statistics and rates of insurance of individual’s policies almost tripling in cost.

Traditionally, sexual morality outside of marriage is wrong, and the natural purpose of sex is reproduction. Libertarian’s view sex as an activity like anything else, as long as there is no dishonest or exploitation. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 reads, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.” If one were to base personal opinion on biblical truths, obviously sex before marriage and/or simply lusting after another human is wrong. Today’s society, and even church, seems to completely disregard the bible and what God says about sexual morality. It is common to see on television shows and commercials that exemplify sex and all the many benefits and people that choose to follow the path that lead to self-destruction. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 states, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” That scripture alone should be enough to encourage people to follow the straight and narrow path. For those that don’t read the bible or do not believe in God’s word, more biological and practical effects of immorality can be shared and proven. STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) are increasing per individual and nationwide. Approximately 1.4 million reported cases of chlamydia, a rate of 456 cases per 100,000 people in a population, are up 2.8 percent since 2013. Rates of primary and secondary syphilis (the most infectious stages) and gonorrhea have both increased since 2013, by 15.1 percent and 5.1 percent. Not only do individuals have it while in there promiscuous years of life, but after finding their soul mate and marriage, continue to pass it on and infect the very ones they love the most. Sex is also the number one cause of pregnancy and abortions are at an all-time high which leads to even more tougher decisions than having sex or not.

Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or who is in an irreversible coma. The practice is illegal in most countries. In Greek it means “happy or good death.” To consider euthanasia and its prerequisites, ordinary and extraordinary treatments need to be compared and analyzed. Ordinary treatment is medical treatment, medicines, and procedures that offer a reasonable hope/outcome to benefit the patient, but does not involve excessive pain or money. Extraordinary treatment is medical treatment that is unusual, extremely difficult, dangerous, and/or expensive that offers little or not enough hope to continue treating the patient. The act of directly helping someone who no longer wants to live their life is illegal in all states, but a few states do allow physician-assisted suicide. Physician- assisted suicide is not technically euthanasia since the doctor’s role is limited to prescribing lethal drugs that the patient takes him or herself. Only a handful of states do allow doctor- assisted suicide. Code section 22-8A-10; 22-8A-9(a) of Alabama law states that any person who intentionally helps or causes another person’s death, even if carried out by compassion, is considered murder. The punishment of such an act is a life sentence of prison, or the death penalty. Most states do not consider or recognize an individual’s right or want to end his or her own life, even though most all states allow the removal of life support. People who disagree with the law say that it is the doctor’s role to act as a healer of the patient. Proponents say that the decision to end life should be carried by the individual as long as a mental illness is not present, is a basic human liberty.

Capital punishment is the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. Retention’s are those who support retaining or reinstituting capital punishment, abolitionist are those who oppose capital punishment. Two good arguments on the subject of the punishment could be capital punishment is more humane than life in prison, and the possibility of innocent people being executed. Both sides are reasonable and considerable depending on the crime of the accused. Two easily justifiable instances where the punishment is accepted is in criminals facing life imprisonment request it and convicted murderers who murder again. The ultimate goal of the harsh style of punishment is retribution (justice), prevention of crime (people don’t commit crimes if they’re in jail or executed), deterrence of crime (discouraging people from committing crimes), and reform/rehabilitation (does this make sense for capital punishment). Some states differ in allowing the punishment at all and in the way the punishment is administered. Electrocution is allowed in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Gas inhalation is accepted in Arizona and California, and use of firing squad is allowed in Utah, while hanging is legal in Washington. April 6, 1992 in Arizona, the case of Donald Eugene Harding went wrong. The double murderer Donald Eugene Harding’s death was not pronounced until almost 11 minutes after the cyanide tablets were added to a gas chamber. During the execution Harding thrashed and struggled violently against the restraining straps. His death prompted the use of lethal injections in some states. As of 2015, the only places in the world which still reserve the electric chair as an option for execution are the U.S. states of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, although Arkansas and Oklahoma laws provide its use if lethal injection should ever be held unconstitutional. Capital punishment was even used in biblical times. The punishment was a significant feature in the justice system of Old Testament Israel. Execution was used in response to extreme civil crimes like murder, rape, false prophecy, and witchcraft. According to the New Testament’s gospel of grace, it is hard to distinguish the command to use the powerful enforcer of death. As recipients of God’s grace, we are called to extend grace to other believers and non- believers. A good question to consider is if the requirements of justice trump the opportunity for mercy or vice versa?

Welfare is the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group; statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well being of people in need; financial support given to people in need. Transfer payment is the transfer of funds from one part of the population to another by taxation and dispersal. Most Democratic politicians base their political views and agendas on the Equality Principle, which is everyone in a population, ought to end up with an equal share of the wealth of the population. Contributing to the society or not, some feel that everyone has the right to have his or her economic needs met. Personally, being raised in a household of seven, we were taught you will only benefit from what is put into something and that nothing is free in life. 1931, Dr. Adrian Rogers spoke words of wisdom “You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody what first the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” There are necessary and practical instances where there are exceptions such as elderly and handicap assistance should be made, but not taken advantage of.

Is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of the environment and its non-human contents? A short list of everyday environmental concerns includes ozone depletion, global warming, acid rain, trash, and extinction of species. Dominion is the power or right of controlling and governing. Genesis 1:26 God says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Mankind was gifted with responsibility and expected to take care of the earth and all of its components. Alabama Code Title 22 of Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Chapter D-E explains and regulates disposal of garbage pertaining to a community and also an individual “Garbage and rubbish containing garbage shall be disposed of by sanitary landfill, approved incineration, composting, or by other means now available or which may later become available as approved by the department. The method chosen and used shall also meet the requirements of the health department for sanitation and the protection of public health. (E) No garbage or rubbish containing garbage or other putrescible materials or hazardous wastes shall be burned except in approved incinerators meeting the necessary temperature requirements and air pollution controls as now established or

as may later be established. The open burning of rubbish shall be permitted only under sharply controlled circumstances where sanitary landfill or landfill is not feasible and not in proximity to sanitary landfill or landfill operations where spread of fire to these operations may be a hazard in the opinion of the department.” The earth is the only known inhabited planet and it is the only one we get. It is a selfish thought to think that littering or incorrect disposal of garbage only effects that one individual or individual spot of land. Eventually everything that every single person does day to day combines to either add to or diminish the ecosystem in which we breathe and drink from. An ecosystem can only be as good as what is in it. Along with an ecosystem comes with the animals that are included in it. Animal cruelty can be either deliberate abuse or simply the failure to take care of an animal. Regardless if the animal is a pet, farm animal, or wildlife, the victim can suffer from neglect and lack of care. Government data of domestic violence cases show nearly one million animals a year are abused or killed in connection with domestic violence. Cruelty to animals is a Misdemeanor with a fine up to $1000 and/or imprisonment up to one year. On a fourth or subsequent conviction, cruelty is a 4th degree felony with a fine of up to $5000 and/or imprisonment up to 18 months. The Golden Rule is the most simplistic and most effective principle that should be followed to ensure success in any general idea or concept of community. Taking care of what we have is the best way to keep what we have and make sure that those who come after us get to enjoy the basic liberties of life in a place that is suited to live in and support life.

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