PHLB09H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Paternalism, Kantianism, Fetus
Document Summary
Recall: moral obligation is duty to do something/avoid doing something. No restriction without: good reason, explicit justification. Paternalism: overrides action and deliberation of patient"s own good. Concerns patients with little to no a (e. g. addicted, psychotic, children) Overrides action and deliberation even if patient mostly a. E. g. committing occasionally disoriented, softening diagnosis to spare feelings. Pro: under ideal conditions, patient would consent: some a sufficient to prohibit p, p as proxy for patient a. Pro: only if benefit outweighs restriction of a: enabling future, a justifies present restriction. What justifies treating against patient"s will: pre-1980s: dependents; risk to fetus, now: competent patient (someone who is aware of what"s going on) can refuse treatment. Patient requests for treatment but physician rejects out of beneficence. Medical futility; useless because little to no benefit. Patient/physician dispute about futility: inability to repair tissue, inability to keep body alive (sharpest clash), appeal to standards of medical practice. Utilitarianism: driven by beneficence, may justify paternalism.
