Anna is a 23-year-old woman who wants to give birth to a premature baby diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome while she has not yet graduated from university. She does not have any immediate family to help her and she may also have to drop out of university if the baby survives. Due to her personal circumstances, Dr. Brown insists on not providing medical treatment and allowing the infant to die naturally after birth. In Anna’s situation, Dr. Brown’s suggestion is based on what he thinks is best for both the mother and baby. Dr. Brown feels as though Anna is making a poor decision and that her actions will be putting her education and potential strengths at stake and the baby may suffer from further impairments. Although Anna understands the responsibilities,
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The moral theory that applies to Anna’s perspective is virtue ethics. According to Aristotle’s teleological explanation, he believed that “everything that exists has a goal or purpose” (Collier & Haliburton, 2015, p. 25). Everything that exists has some kind of goal; therefore, people consider every end that they strive for. Every human also has a function, and they are only excellent if they have the ability to perform their function well. To become an excellent human being, people must be virtuous. “We learn to be virtuous through practice, through observing other people, and through developing the proper dispositions” (Collier & Haliburton, 2015, p.27). Virtue is the mean between two extremes; excess and deficiency, and through practice, virtue can be achieved. Becoming virtuous will lead to human excellence, which will ultimately lead to eudaimonia. Aristotle believes there is only one thing with intrinsic value, which is eudaimonia. The conception of this term does not necessarily mean happiness, but is more closely related to human flourishing (Collier & Haliburton, 2015, p. 26). Therefore, individuals need to strive for human excellence in order to flourish. He believes that eudaimonia is the highest good and is beyond the particular ends or goals individuals aim to achieve. Eudaimonia is ultimately the purpose of all human activity. If this concept of virtue ethics applied to the case …show more content…
Although utilitarianism helps justify Dr. Brown’s perspective, there are many weaknesses that accompany this theory. The first problem is that it is difficult to determine which actions will produce the most happiness. It would be difficult for Dr. Brown to compare the results of not initiating treatment to initiating treatment. He is aware that if the baby survives, Anna’s will be jeopardizing her education and employment; however, he believes Anna may have a successful future if the baby dies. Dr. Brown cannot compare the value of employment, education and motherhood because they do not have common elements to compare. The second problem is that a utilitarian makes a decision based on consequences. Utilitarian actions have consequences that are unexpected. Dr. Brown insisted on not using treatment to save the baby because he was thinking about Anna’s future as well as the baby’s suffering. However, unhappiness would not be the only consequence because Dr. Brown was aware that the child had a 44 percent chance of surviving and approximately 30 percent chance of not suffering. Although the chance of the baby surviving and not suffering were slim, the possibility of Anna and the baby being happy in the future was present. If the baby survived and suffered no further impairments, and Anna was able to raise her baby without any major problems in the future, then Dr. Brown’s
The moral theory that applies to Anna’s perspective is virtue ethics. According to Aristotle’s teleological explanation, he believed that “everything that exists has a goal or purpose” (Collier & Haliburton, 2015, p. 25). Everything that exists has some kind of goal; therefore, people consider every end that they strive for. Every human also has a function, and they are only excellent if they have the ability to perform their function well. To become an excellent human being, people must be virtuous. “We learn to be virtuous through practice, through observing other people, and through developing the proper dispositions” (Collier & Haliburton, 2015, p.27). Virtue is the mean between two extremes; excess and deficiency, and through practice, virtue can be achieved. Becoming virtuous will lead to human excellence, which will ultimately lead to eudaimonia. Aristotle believes there is only one thing with intrinsic value, which is eudaimonia. The conception of this term does not necessarily mean happiness, but is more closely related to human flourishing (Collier & Haliburton, 2015, p. 26). Therefore, individuals need to strive for human excellence in order to flourish. He believes that eudaimonia is the highest good and is beyond the particular ends or goals individuals aim to achieve. Eudaimonia is ultimately the purpose of all human activity. If this concept of virtue ethics applied to the case …show more content…
Although utilitarianism helps justify Dr. Brown’s perspective, there are many weaknesses that accompany this theory. The first problem is that it is difficult to determine which actions will produce the most happiness. It would be difficult for Dr. Brown to compare the results of not initiating treatment to initiating treatment. He is aware that if the baby survives, Anna’s will be jeopardizing her education and employment; however, he believes Anna may have a successful future if the baby dies. Dr. Brown cannot compare the value of employment, education and motherhood because they do not have common elements to compare. The second problem is that a utilitarian makes a decision based on consequences. Utilitarian actions have consequences that are unexpected. Dr. Brown insisted on not using treatment to save the baby because he was thinking about Anna’s future as well as the baby’s suffering. However, unhappiness would not be the only consequence because Dr. Brown was aware that the child had a 44 percent chance of surviving and approximately 30 percent chance of not suffering. Although the chance of the baby surviving and not suffering were slim, the possibility of Anna and the baby being happy in the future was present. If the baby survived and suffered no further impairments, and Anna was able to raise her baby without any major problems in the future, then Dr. Brown’s