Virtue Ethics And Natural Law Theory

A final perspective used to examine this dilemma is virtue ethics, or the natural law theory. Virtue ethics was first created by Aristotle and is centered on the idea that the chief end of humans is obtaining eudaimonia or happiness. Happiness, as Aristotle described it, is only truly obtained through virtuous actions. “Moral virtues can best be acquired by practice and habit. They imply a right attitude toward pleasures and pains. A good man deliberately chooses to do what is noble and right for its own sake.”1 Aristotle believed that moral virtues needed practice and that the underlying reason for doing them should be simply because they are morally right. Therefore it is important to note that, “What is right in matters of moral conduct …show more content…
On one end of the spectrum, the dentist could fall into the trap of greed and desire to make more money by placing the insufficient crown and accumulating the profits from this procedure as well as future procedures to repair it. On the other end of the spectrum the dentist could succumb to the vice of stinginess and charge the patient extra for having to send the crown back to be adjusted as well as for the future appointment to cement it in. However, based on my studies of virtue ethics, the dentist should find the mean of these two vices and go with the virtuous decision, which is the charitable one. This decision would be to confess to the patient the mistake the lab made on the crown, then for no charge to the patient, send the crown back to be altered then place the crown at a future date. This dilemma also involves the vices of pride and obsequiousness. Concerning the vice of pride, the dentist might be too proud to admit any mistake in his work, even if it was the labs fault and therefore decide to cement in the faulty crown. In addition, the dentist might also take the opposite stance of obsequiousness and show little concern for the well being of his patients, therefore resulting in the decision to cement the insufficient crown simply because it is easier. Instead the dentist should choose to display the virtue of humility and …show more content…
There is a nationally accepted code of ethics created by the American Dental Association specifically written for ethical dilemmas within the field of dentistry. “The American Dental Association calls upon dentists to follow high ethical standards which have the benefit of the patient as their primary goal.”2 In the ADA’s Code of Ethics, the five fundamental principles of patient autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and veracity, are presented as the backbone to practicing ethical dentistry. Patient autonomy is the right of the patient to make his or her own decisions regarding treatment that they will receive and nonmaleficence states that the dentist should not cause unnecessary harm to the patient.2 Beneficence refers to the idea that the dentist should always promote good, competent and timely dental care specific to the needs of the patient.2 Justice refers the dentist having the responsibility to be fair in their dealings with patients and veracity revolves around truthful communication without deception with patients.2 Looking at these principles that the ADA believes are essential for dentists to follow in order to make ethical decisions and applying them to the dilemma proposed above, it is clear that decision two follows these principles more than decision one. The most