• home
  • bourbon
  • links
  • blog
  • bio
  • contact form
               donstacy.com

Chapter 3 Principles of Biomedical Ethics Sixth Edition

12/30/2012

 
The third chapter of the sixth edition of Beauchamp and Childress's Principles of Biomedical Ethics tackles the tricky subject of "Moral Status".  In this section the authors describe the five mainstream moral status theories then recommend that bioethicists "appropriate the best from each of the five theories and meld these elements together into a multicriterial, coherent account of moral status."  The B + C strategy is a failure, of course.

B + C divide the mainstream moral status theories into the following five categories: human properties, cognitive properties, moral agency, sentience, and relationships.  The authors do not list a libertarian category of moral status theories.  The purpose of the LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS BLOG is to correct this injustice.

B + C appropriately note flaws in each of the five mainstream moral status theories.  I will not bore the reader with the details; please read the chapter yourself.  The criticisms in the chapter, interestingly, do not significantly damage the best libertarian bioethics statement regarding moral status, which I previously mentioned in this blog.  The statement is Sigrid Fry-Revere's claim that a being has moral status if the being possesses the minimum mental equipment necessary for reasoning power, regardless of whether the reasoning power is ever utilized.  The definition of reasoning power is of obvious importance for Revere's statement.  I think Revere defines reasoning power as "the capacity for higher brain functions," based on my review of her work.  What are the higher brain functions?  Self-consciousness (awareness), emotion, cognition, motivation (able to give and understand reasons for acting), intention, higher-order volition, ability to engage in purposeful action, ability to communicate with other beings using a language, ability to make moral judgments about the wrongness or rightness of actions, sentience (able to feel pain and pleasure), and the ability of develop relationships involving rules and obligations are the obvious answers. The correct answer to that question is important if non-human beings are created ("living" computers or human/non-human "hybrids") or discovered, for the correct answer will help bioethicists determine, empirically, if the non-human beings have moral status.

The LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS BLOGger recommends a minor qualification of Revere's moral status statement.  A superior version is as follows: a being has moral status if the being possesses the minimum mental equipment necessary for reasoning power under healthy developmental conditions, regardless of whether the reasoning power is ever utilized.  This adjustment disallows the anencephalic fetus objection (anencephalic fetuses do not have the minimum mental equipment necessary for reasoning power due to unhealthy developmental conditions) and the environmental catastrophe objection (environmental catastrophe could preclude the ability of all members of an advanced species to demonstrate reasoning power leading to beings from other species not accepting the moral status of any of the beings from the damaged species).  Neuroscience advancements, allowing a priori identification of "the minimum mental equipment necessary for reasoning power" would also be helpful for the environmental catastrophe scenario.

    LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS BLOG

    Author

    Don Stacy is a 47 yo libertarian writer and physician.  His articles have been published by multiple libertarian-themed websites.  He practices medicine as a radiation oncologist in Hazard, KY.     

    Archives

    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    4 Fundamental Principles
    4 Step Heathcare Solution
    Abigail Alliance
    Abraham Lincoln
    Afterbirth Abortion
    Afterbirth Abortion 2
    Ama Bioethics Principles
    Amnesty International
    Animal Rights
    Animal Rights 2
    Banning A Risky Product
    Beneficence
    Bioethics Consults
    Blog Name
    Blog Plan
    Brain-Dead Bioethics
    Brain Dead Bioethics 2
    British Health Care
    Cancer Drugs
    C.I.A. Doctors
    Circumcision
    Classical-Liberal Bioethics
    Classical Liberal Bioethics 2
    Classical Liberal Bioethics 3
    Classical Liberal Bioethics 4
    Classical Liberal Bioethics 5
    Classical Liberal Bioethics 6
    Classical Liberal Bioethics 7
    Clinical Trials Reporting
    Clinical Trials Reporting 2
    Code Of Federal Regs
    Contractarianism
    Cooperative Groups
    Economics Of Healthcare
    Economics Of Healthcare 2
    Engelhardt And Children
    Engelhardt And Children 2
    Euthanasia
    Evidence-Based Medicine
    Facebook Ethics
    Genetic Results Return
    Genetic Results Return 2
    Guatemala S.T.D. Study
    Influenza Vaccination
    Inst. Review Boards
    Inst. Review Boards 2
    Inst. Review Boards 3
    Inst. Review Boards 4
    Inst. Review Boards 5
    Justice
    Just Price
    Kidney Sellers
    Kidney Sellers 10
    Kidney Sellers 11
    Kidney Sellers 12
    Kidney Sellers 13
    Kidney Sellers 14
    Kidney Sellers 15
    Kidney Sellers 2
    Kidney Sellers 3
    Kidney Sellers 4
    Kidney Sellers 5
    Kidney Sellers 6
    Kidney Sellers 7
    Kidney Sellers 8
    Kidney Sellers 9
    Liberation Biology
    Liberation Biology 2
    Liberation Biology 3
    Liberation Biology 4
    Liberation Biology 5
    Liberation Biology 6
    Liberation Biology 7
    Liberation Biology 8
    Liberation Biology 9
    Libertarian Bioethics
    Libertarian Premises
    Libertarian Premises 2
    Liberty Bioeth And Relig
    Liberty Bioeth And Relig 2
    Liberty Encyclopedia
    Liberty Encyclopedia 2
    Liberty Engelhardt Crit.
    Liberty Engelhardt Crit. 2
    Lives At Risk
    Lives At Risk 2
    Lives At Risk 3
    Lives At Risk 4
    Lives At Risk 5
    Lives At Risk 6
    Lives At Risk 7
    Lives At Risk 8
    Lives At Risk 9
    Mandatory Research Biopsies
    Money May Matter
    National Cancer Institute
    National Cancer Institute 2
    Neuroethics
    Nonmaleficence
    Organ Donation
    P.G.D.
    Phys. For Human Rights 1
    Phys. For Human Rights 2
    Political Triage
    Principles For Allocation
    Principles Of Bioethics
    Principles Of Bioethics 10
    Principles Of Bioethics 2
    Principles Of Bioethics 3
    Principles Of Bioethics 4
    Principles Of Bioethics 5
    Principles Of Bioethics 6
    Principles Of Bioethics 7
    Principles Of Bioethics 8
    Principles Of Bioethics 9
    Rationing Cancer Care
    Respect For Autonomy
    RTOG & NSABP
    Secrecy And Radiation
    Showing That You Care
    Sigrid Fry-Revere
    Skid Row
    Soviet Medicine
    Soviet Medicine 2
    Test
    The Carriage-Trade Trend
    The Chemist's War
    The Expanding Circle
    The Expanding Circle 2
    The Expanding Circle 3
    The Expanding Circle 4
    The Expanding Circle 5
    The Expanding Circle 6
    The Expanding Circle 7
    The Expanding Circle 8
    The Expanding Circle 9
    The Nathaniel Centre
    Tuskegee Syphilis Study
    U.N.E.S.C.O.
    U.S. Human Experiments
    U.S. Medical Experiments
    Warning Labels
    What It Feels Like
    What It Feels Like 2
    What It Feels Like 3
    Why Health Is Not Special

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    ANARCHO-CAPITALIST FLAG
Web Hosting by IPOWER