HPSC1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham, Virtue Ethics
24 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 3
Bioethics and ethical theory
- Ethical theories try to provide systematic principles (via philosophical argument) that
justify our moral decisions (not simply explain them)
- They help to determine what is good, what is the right action and help us to live well
- They help to identify morally relevant aspects of issues e.g. consequences, autonomy or
justice
- E.g. performance enhancing drugs
Ethical theory
There are different kinds of ethical theory used in bioethics today; each has
strengths/weaknesses
- Utilitarianism
- Deontology/Kantian ethics
- Agent-based theories: virtue ethics
Utilitarianism
o Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
o John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
- Focuses on consequences
- The right action is the one that produces the most good and the good is
happiness/satisfaction- diverting trolley maximizes happiness (therefore right)
- The greatest good for the greatest number
- Promotes overall wellbeing, not individual gain
- Requires impartiality: everyone is equally significant
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
