The Ethical Issue in This Scenario
The ethical issue in question is whether JoEllen, a 53-year-old patient with a prewritten will not be placed under support care, presented to the clinic after overdosing a prescription drug with alcohol should be placed under support care. This is a case of deciding whether the patient’s living will should be followed. The living will empower one to decide the kind of medical treatments that he/she should place when critically ill and have lost the power to make crucial decisions such as terminal illness and loss of consciousness (Enodare, 2010). Therefore, based on the three ethical theories of deontology, consequentialist, and virtue theory, one would come up with arguments in favor of or against putting JoEllen under medication.
Applying the Three Traditional Theories of Normative Ethics to this Situation
Deontology
Deontology is derived from the Greek word deon, which means duty (Jankowiak, n.d). In developing the theory, Kant had in mind the moral duty that humans are entitled to do to themselves and others and of which failure to do makes one immoral. According to the theory, one ought to do to others what they would have others do unto them. For example, if one expects to be paid well, he has to pay others, who work under him, well. In addition, the theory commends that one act in a way that would be appreciated by all if the act was or principle was made universal (Jankowiak, n.d). For example, if one killed and that was made a universal law so that others would kill at free will then it would be a disastrous law, which makes the act immoral. On the other hand if one had preserved life and that act made universal, then it would be acceptable, and this makes the act moral.
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In this scenario, without the will, the doctors would have placed JoEllen under supportive care but for the son who has presented the will. Thus, the son’s desire was that the will of the mother had to be followed because but the doctors did not know. If the son was in the mother’s situation and was denied the position of supportive care, he would die eventually. Therefore, if anyone who is critically but has a written will was denied supportive care, he/she will eventually die nonetheless as it was his or her will. In case the doctors break this will and it is made a common law, multiple wills will be broken, and this will lessen the power of an individual’s will. Therefore, following the will is the best approach to this case as it preserves the authority of the will and respects an individual’s right to make personal choices.
Consequentialist
The consequentialist position holds that an act should be favored when it does good to the highest number of people or simply answer the question: how many people are to benefit from the act? (Hinman, 2016). For example, if there are five people involved in a scenario and an act would benefit only one person it is to be forfeited. If it benefits 3, it is to be carried out. In this case, if JoEllen was placed under care and she recovers then the doctors, JoEllen and the son will benefit. If she is placed under supportive care and dies, none will profit from that act. In addition, if she is not placed under care and dies none will benefit from that because it will be a loss of life. Therefore, according to this principle, placing her under care is the most appropriate action since there is good to be obtained by all if she recovers from her state.
Virtue theory
Virtue theory opposes the deontological and consequentialist approaches because it prefers an action as long as it is good regardless of the accompanying rules and the consequences (Kemerling, 2011). Therefore, in the situation, one would weigh whether it is good to give someone supportive care or is it bad to do so. Therefore, the viable option will be to give someone supportive care because it increases their chances of survival as compared to if they were abandoned to die.
The Advantage and Disadvantage of the Three Theories As They Relate To This Situation
The advantage of the theories is that they help in resolving the problem whether in a good or bad way. The point is that at least one gets himself out of the mess of deciding what to do. The situation would be different if there were no ethical guidelines for solving the problem. One would imagine the kind of debate that would go on between the doctors and the son on what to do.
The disadvantage of the theories is their lack of agreement or providing one direction. One can argue that the choice of one theory over the other depends on the moral perceptive of the viewer. For example, one can choose on deontology because he agrees with the conclusion while another may choose consequentialist view and so on. This lack of a common stand creates confusion especially when opposing views are involved.
Ethical theory
Under this circumstance, I would work with the consequentialist theory. Rules or laws lack the ability to cover all aspects of a human while the will provides a directive on what to do, the situation at hand can be assisted, and many can profit from that as opposed to do doing nothing.
References
Enodare. (2010). Make your own living will . Enodare publishers.
Hinman, L. M. (2016). Ethical theories. Ethics Updates. Retrieved from http://ethicsupdates.net/theories/index.shtml
Jankowiak, T. (n.d.). Kant: 5. Moral Theory. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/kantview/#H5 Pages 22–28.
Kemerling, G. (2011). Aristotle: Ethics and virtues. The Philosophy Pages . Available from http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2s.htm Pages 1–3 .
