Analysis Essay on Ethical Theories
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In a file located at my workplace, I discovered that a teacher at a local elementary school is prescribed to a strong anti-psychotic medication known as Risperdal commonly used to treat schizophrenia. Respecting client confidentiality is important. However, I fear that the teacher may stop taking the medication. Given that he is in a position of authority, this might cause serious harm to his pupils. In this essay, I outline how I will apply traditional theories of normative ethics to solve the ethical dilemma presented by the issue.
To clarify my understanding of the situation, I will have to seek some addition information. For instance, I would find out whether there are any adverse side effects of halting the medication. Having this knowledge will enable me to know if the teacher is likely to cause harm to pupils if he stops taking Risperdal. I would also try to know the likelihood of him not taking the medication. Finding this out would involve checking his medical history to see if there have been instances of him missing medications or failing to follow a physicians instructions.
The three ethical approaches that I can use for this case are virtue, duty and consequential ethics. Virtue ethics are those associated with personal habits while duty ethics have to do with religious beliefs. Consequential ethics focus on actions and their outcomes. Top philosophers described moral behavior with respect to a virtuous individual developing a sense of right or wrong. People tend to look up to individuals that are thought to be ethical to offer advice on issues to do with ethics as they have a sense of good and bad. If I were to apply the virtue ethics to the case, then I would take steps to ensure that the teacher does not cause harm to pupils due to the effects of his medication. The right thing would be to prevent such a scenario from happening irrespective of whether it goes against client privilege guidelines. For example, I would point out about the teachers condition to the elementary school principal who has authority over him and who can check on his behavior while interacting with pupils.
The ethical systems that appear most primitive are those that are based on a series of obligations. A good example is in the case of children who follow the instructions of parents because they are told so. Hence, duty ethics stem from the notion that some actions should not be taken as they are simply wrong. The main point here is that the inclination to obey bears more importance than the actual outcome. Righteousness is the ability to understand moral obligations and act on them. Under any circumstances, a persons behavior should be governed by fundamental binding principles. Kantian ethics and religions are the main sources of these principles.
Kantian ethics were developed based on absolute imperatives that were induced from a rational analysis as opposed to the teachings of prophets and priests or revelation. Immanuel Kant, who developed the ethics, was trying to combine Judaeo-Christian religions duty ethics with Greek philosophers rational virtue ethics. When figuring out if a certain action is right or wrong, two tests are applied, one of them being whether the act is universal. The underlying motive of any act should be applicable universally in that it is something that people wish would happen and all individuals behaved in a similar manner. Humans should be perceived as worthy of respect for themselves as opposed to it being a means of achieving other ends. It would be immoral and irrational for people to consider themselves as deserving respect while denying it to others.
Religions have rules and guidelines attributed to supreme beings revelations or teaching from religious leaders. While they have differing rules on how believers should go about their lives, many religions base their general laws on actions. For instance, Christianity has a commandment that directs its followers to love their neighbors as themselves. If I were to apply the duty ethics theory to the case, then I would ignore my discovery about the teachers description and keep it to myself. Given that respecting clients confidentiality is important, then the right thing to do would be not to raise the issue of the teachers medication posing a danger to his pupils.
Consequential Ethics do away with the criterion for motives; instead focusing on outcomes of various acts. If an outcome is desirable, there is a likelihood that related actions are good irrespective of the perpetrators motive. However, the fact that an individual has good intentions for an act does not necessarily mean that it is ethically acceptable. Utilitarians are of the opinion that it is possible to measure the outcomes of business and government policies. Right actions are those that promote happiness as well as the greatest good for the largest number. On the other hand, wrong actions are those that tend to result in the reverse of happiness. All in all, utilitarians are divided when it comes to figuring out the greatest good. If I were to apply the consequential ethics theory in the case, I would let other parties know about the likely effects of the teachers medication. A greater number of individuals, in this case his pupils, are likely to suffer if it turns out that the medication affects his behavior. In contrast, only one individual would benefit if I chose to respect clients privacy privileges.
As much as each of the three ethical theories presents a way of solving the dilemma, they do have their shortcomings. For instance, the virtue ethics theory is incomplete and fails to offer a clear model for coming up with ethical decisions. There appears to be certain aspects of morality that the theory cannot account for on its own, while it is not sufficiently equipped to address issues to do with action. Simply put, it may be possible to address what counts as desirable character traits. However, there is often the need to assess the right action to take in a certain situation; something that the theory does not seem to address. In addition, the theory does not clearly outline how to decide in a certain situation, the decision to be made, and how it can be justified.
The deontological ethics theory also has its shortcomings. In a situation often referred to as the paradox of deontological constraints, anyone who follows this theory may be reluctant to violate a duty to deter several violations triggered by other individuals. Also, the duty may actually result in disastrous outcomes. Whats more, there appears to be no logical reason for following some duties. A notable disadvantage of the consequentialist ethics theory is that it is not possible to predict the future. If an individual is judging his or her actions on a basis of the outcome, he or she does not have a way of making an accurate judgment. Correctly determining the exact consequence of someones actions is quite difficult, thus making the ethical theory a moot point.
In my own opinion, the right thing to do about this case is to let the elementary schools administration know about the teachers medication and its effects. This action will facilitate measures aimed at checking on him to ensure that he does not hurt pupils in any way. Safety of those that the teacher has authority over is more important than the privacy concerns of an individual. However, it is worth investigating whether he is likely not to take his medications.
References Goetghebeur, M. M., Wagner, M., Bond, K., & Hofmann, B. (2015). Analysis Of Ethical Theories And Principles Embedded In Holistic Mcda: A Primer To Ethics-Based Appraisal Of Value In Healthcare. Value in Health, 18(3), A101.
Tveit, A. D., & Sunde, A. L. (2016). How Different Insights from a Variety of Theories Might Help Ethical Decision-Making in Educational Counselling. Interchange, 47(2), 121-132.
Widdershoven, G., Metselaar, S., & Molewijk, B. (2016). Ethical Theory as Part of Clinical Ethics Support Practice. The American Journal of Bioethics, 16(9), 34-36.
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