10:832:356 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Neighborhood Watch, Injury Prevention, Partner Notification
Lecture #1: Introduction to the Class
I. Purpose of the Class
ā¢ Introduction to public health law and ethical concerns within the discipline.
ā¢ Community health and well being versus the rights of the individual.
ā¢ Introduction to begin thinking like a lawyer.
ā¢ Formulating an argument, in an ethical context.
ā¢ Examining multiple sides of an issue.
ā¢ Weighing personal morals and ethics with professional ethics, and how are those concerns
aligned with the law.
II. A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
ā¢https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/a-framework-for-ethical-
decision-making/.
III. Ethics Versus Morals Versus Values
ā¢ Ethics- The basis for a societyās belief system.
ā¢ Society = Ethics.
ā¢ Normative- What we should or should not do based on a reasoned system.
ā¢ Applied- Code of ethics, usually put out by an organization.
ā¢ Example: Professional code of ethics.
ā¢ Morals- An individualās concept of right and wrong, usually based on beliefs created by inter-
personal relationships.
ā¢ Personal = Morals.
ā¢ Example: Believing abortion is wrong.
ā¢ Values- Personal beliefs of what is important, based upon a community standard.
ā¢ Community = Values.
ā¢ Examples:
ā¢ I believe it is right to feed the poor.
ā¢ Morals because it involves a personal belief.
ā¢ My neighborhood pays for a neighborhood watch.
ā¢ Values because it deals with a community held belief.
ā¢ My society prosecutes murderers.
ā¢ Ethics because it deals with a societal belief
IV. The Train Scenario
ā¢ Would you kill one person or a group of five people.
ā¢ Based on numbers, you would only kill the single person.
ā¢ If you based on ages (single person is two years old while the group is eighty years old), you
would save the two year old because they have more potential.
ā¢ If you based it on who they are (single person is an oncologist while the group of people are
mass murderers), you would save the oncologist.
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