Utilitarian Bioethics

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that utilitarian bioethics directs health care resources to people who have the most potential of contributing to society. The author argues that utilitarian bioethics is putting patients and standards of health care at risk by making the most vulnerable people such as the poor, handicapped, elderly and disabled at the greatest risk of not receiving advanced and costly medical care. The paper relates that utilitarian bioethics, which were originally introduced by Jeremy Bentham in 1789, do not adhere to any moral value or acknowledge the sanctity of life; therefore, it is easy for a utilitarian to justify ideas that make most ethicists cringe.

From the Paper:

"So far, we have examined extreme cases and ideas governed by the Utilitarian movement. In its everyday use, this ideology is terrifying, because it affects so many people. In the past the Hippocratic Oath directive guided physicians to do everything medically necessary to keep a patient alive as long as possible. This was not always the best course of action for a patient and started the idea of patient autonomy. Autonomy gives the patient the right to refuse care if he or she desires. As an example, being dependent on a medical machine to prolong life is not what many people want."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bentham, J. (1907), The Principals of Morals and Legislation, Oxford, England: Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Original work published 1789)
• Neuhaus, R. J. (1990), The Return of Eugenics, Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, in cooperation with the Rockford Center on Religion and Society.
• Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J. (1997), Principles of Bioethics, London, England: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc.
• O'Brien, P. (1993, August 28), Cold Look at Right to Die Gives off Ghastly Chill, St. Paul Sunday Pioneer Press, p. 12-14.
• Smith, W. (2000), Culture of Death, San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books.

More papers on Utilitarian Bioethics:

• Article Review # 135407 : "Bioethics for Clinicians"
• Analytical Essay # 141333 : "Ethical Implications of Global Poverty"
• Research Paper # 14724 : "Ethics and Health Organizations"

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