Ethics
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- Date Submitted: 03/14/2011 10:25 PM
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Professional Issues Paper 2
Scenario One requires me to act and I plan to determine exactly what Kimberley expects me to do, buy myself some time and then begin an investigation. I am also determined to encourage Kimberley to access some counselling services. I choose to act in this manner because I am looking at the situation from a combination of deontological and consequentialist theories.
Beauchamp and Childress state, “Kant argued that morality is grounded in reason, not in tradition, intuition, conscience, emotion, or attitudes such as sympathy.” (Beauchamp, T. & Childress, J.F., 2001, p348) It is with this in mind that I have decided to use Kant’s theories in part in order to decide how to move ahead within the moral dilemma of scenario one. The scenario is one that could lead to people becoming highly emotional and indeed could have already been affected by intuition. By following a deontological theory I will ensure my emotions do not get in the way of finding the most ethical solution or way forward. Kant argues that intention is imperative if a moral right is to be reached and it is my intention to seek out the truth in order to treat Kimberley “as an end and never as a means only.” (Beauchamp, T. & Childress, J.F., 2001, p350-351)
Alexandra & Miller state that “Deontologists hold that at least some actions are right or wrong irrespective of their consequences” (Alexandra, A. & Miller, S., 1996, p26), and while I do agree with this statement to a certain degree, I most certainly will take the short and long term consequences into consideration when weighing up my argument. In this way my decision is based not simply on a deontological theory but is a mixed theorists solution, with consequentialism affecting my choices. Although consequentialism requires ‘the maximum happiness of the greatest number’ it does not mean that Kimberley’s potential sexual abuse being appropriately addressed would not mean the greatest good for the greatest number,...
Scenario One requires me to act and I plan to determine exactly what Kimberley expects me to do, buy myself some time and then begin an investigation. I am also determined to encourage Kimberley to access some counselling services. I choose to act in this manner because I am looking at the situation from a combination of deontological and consequentialist theories.
Beauchamp and Childress state, “Kant argued that morality is grounded in reason, not in tradition, intuition, conscience, emotion, or attitudes such as sympathy.” (Beauchamp, T. & Childress, J.F., 2001, p348) It is with this in mind that I have decided to use Kant’s theories in part in order to decide how to move ahead within the moral dilemma of scenario one. The scenario is one that could lead to people becoming highly emotional and indeed could have already been affected by intuition. By following a deontological theory I will ensure my emotions do not get in the way of finding the most ethical solution or way forward. Kant argues that intention is imperative if a moral right is to be reached and it is my intention to seek out the truth in order to treat Kimberley “as an end and never as a means only.” (Beauchamp, T. & Childress, J.F., 2001, p350-351)
Alexandra & Miller state that “Deontologists hold that at least some actions are right or wrong irrespective of their consequences” (Alexandra, A. & Miller, S., 1996, p26), and while I do agree with this statement to a certain degree, I most certainly will take the short and long term consequences into consideration when weighing up my argument. In this way my decision is based not simply on a deontological theory but is a mixed theorists solution, with consequentialism affecting my choices. Although consequentialism requires ‘the maximum happiness of the greatest number’ it does not mean that Kimberley’s potential sexual abuse being appropriately addressed would not mean the greatest good for the greatest number,...