CAS PH 251 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Harm Principle, Primum Non Nocere, Intentionality
8 Nov 2018
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Document Summary
The georgetown mantra: four principles of bioethics (1) respect for autonomy (2) nonmaleficence (3) beneficence (4) justice. Not a unified theory of morality: principles conflict and must be balanced. For an action to be autonomous, an agent must act (1) intentionally (i. e. , on beliefs and desires as a rational agent) (2) with understanding (i. e. , on true beliefs), and (3) without coercion (i. e. , freely) For an act to be autonomous, the criteria of intentionality, understanding and liberty need to be met to some sufficient degree. Harm principle": the state can restrict a person"s liberty / autonomy only if it is necessary to prevent that person from harming others. Societies that don"t respect the harm principle will have less overall utility than those that do. Example of conflict between autonomy and other principles: Nonmaleficence is the duty not to inflict harm on others. In medicine, the maxim is primum non nocere: above all, do no harm.
