The field of ethics, which is, among other things, the study of the reasons that can be given for and against decisions and actions.
Many of the fields of research and practice with which bioethics concerns itself are covered by this course, including:
A practical question is a question about which means should be taken to obtain a particular goal or end and might well be concerned with things like effectiveness and efficiency.
An ethical question is one that asks whether a particular goal or end is one that is worthwhile, or that we have an obligation to attain or avoid.
What distinguishes an ethical from a practical question is not how the question is worded, as two distinct ethical and practical questions may be worded in the same way. What distinguishes them is what will count as an acceptable answer for each. Practical questions do not, in general raise philosophical questions about good and bad, right and wrong (though it can be very helpful to have thought clearly about such questions before asking practical ones). Ethical questions do, by their very nature.
Some philosophers, however, make a distinction between them, using the word “ethics” to refer to broader, more general, and perhaps deeper questions about how we should live, what makes actions right or wrong, and what makes outcomes good or bad. In this case, the word “morality” is understood in a sense that draws on its Latin root, “mores”, taken as referring to the rules of conduct within a particular society. This distinction brings out the fact that bioethics is more concerned with questions about ethics than about morality, when morality is understood in this more limited sense, and thus is more about broader philosophical questions about right and wrong, good and bad, rather than questions about the customs and traditions of a particular society.
Utilitarianism tells us that the right action is the action that brings about the most happiness and the least unhappiness in total for those affected. In measuring happiness and unhappiness, it tells us to take into account the happiness of everyone affected by the consequences of the action, and to count the happiness and unhappiness of each person equally. Thus, according to utilitarianism, we should always act so as to maximize the happiness and minimize the unhappiness of those affected by our actions. The idea that we should always work for the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people is called the “Principle of Utility”. The “utility” of an action, in this account, is the amount of happiness that it produces.
4-step process of making a decision under utilitarianism: