Ethics application subjects

Performed at the subject's request

When the patient is given treatment that is deliberately designed to end with death

Withdrawal of food and water resulting in the gradual death of a patient

When the patient is not able to decide or communicate their wishes and another person (usually relative) makes the decision

When the decision is made against the patient's wishes or consent is not sought after, even though the patient is able to express their wishes themselves

No because of the Suicide Act of 1961

you cannot 'aid, counsel or abet in the suicide of another'

14 years

• Relieve pain
• Take away burden on family
• They believe they have the right to die

1967

24 weeks

• The baby is threatening the life of the mother
• There is a reasonable risk that if the child were born it would suffer from serious physical or mental handicaps.
• Existing children would suffer as a result of the baby being born
• Necessary to protect the mother's mental health

200,000 approx.

• The baby has personhood therefore human rights which need to be respected
• Procedure is mentally and physically damaging 
• There are lots of infertile couples who want a child but cannot have one

A person is a being that has human genetics and can be rational and independent. Must be sentient (have feelings) and therefore requires a conscience.

Based on this, from a scientific pov a foetus is not a person

• Body was given to you by God
• A foetus is a person from conception 
• Disrespectful 
• Humans should procreate

The concept that everyone has certain rights, including the right to decide what to do with your body

• Women should not be forced to have child 
• A decision made without male control
• Allows women to pursue what they really want (such as a career or education)
• Shows intelligence that they know they will not provide properly for baby

The standard of health, comfort, and happiness experienced by an individual

• There is no clear definition of what a good life is 
• Professionals (doctors) should not decide whether a person will have a good quality life
• Quality of life varies from person to person and in different societies

The sacredness of human life

When it is done to protect the life of the mother

Because it is a potential human being

philosophers, particularly utilitarians

• At conception
• At birth
• When it is ensouled (given soul)

The time when the soul enters the foetus and it becomes a human being

• Depends on a dualist view
• Moment of ensoulment cannot be defined
• No biological basis

Depends on situation and application but not necessarily bad

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race or nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family

• Children are not commodities (tradable items)
• God has granted the child as a gift
• God decides who has children and who cannot
• Infertility is nature's way of keeping the population in check

• UN declaration of human rights states people have right to 'found a family'
• Not everyone can have children, if it was a right we would all have the ability

• Against abortion
• Belief in the sanctity of life
• Fetus has rights

• Consider abortion as an option
• Belief that baby is not yet a human
• Embryo has no rights

• Roman Catholics do not approve of any
• form of fertility treatment with
• intervention e.g. IVF or donor eggs
• condemns any procedure that involves
• conception without sexual intercourse.
• They do not believe that couples have a
• right to children.
• Roman Catholics do
• approve of childless couples adopting
• children.

Deliberate manipulation, modification or recombination of DNA in order to alter the characteristics of an organism

• Solution to issues of poor quality of life
• Increases food supply to feed poor and growing populations
• Company yields increased
• Reduction in use of pesticides

A living organism is given genes from different organisms like plants, animals, viruses or bacteria

• Less prone to disease
• Produce better quality food

A cell at an early stage of development (up to 14 days in the UK) which has the potential to develop into any type of cell

A baby whose genetic makeup has been selected to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics

A baby whose genetic information has been selected so their stem cells can be used to treat a sibling

• Saviour sibling may feel used or unwanted
• Sense that the sibling in need is more important than them

Adult stem cells only have the potential to grow into the cell of whatever organ they came from, whereas embryo stem cells have the potential to be any type of body cell

Body tissue taken from an adult that has been cloned to produce an embryo that is genetically identical to the adult

They are destroyed

• To repair diseased tissue
• Drug testing

• Morally wrong to use sacred, potential human being in this way
• Consequences of cloning cells are unknown
• May lead to slippery slope of reproductive cloning (producing complete clones)

The belief that war and violence are always unjustifiable

Belief that war and violence are only justifiable in defense of vulnerable and helpless people

The belief that to resort to violence or war is justifiable if it meets certain criteria

The belief that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to promote or defend its interests

Old testament depicts God as being full of wrath and fury whereas the new testament shows God as promoting peace, harmony and love

• Proper Authority
• Just Cause
• Right Intention - The outcome being sought should be noble, generally to bring about peace
• Last Resort
• Proportionality - The damage caused by going to war must not be greater than the good achieved
• Win Possible - there should be a good chance of success
• Comparative Justice - neither side will ever be without fault, but you need to be more right than your opponents

To act in the way Jesus did, promoting harmony, love and peace

• Violence creates more violence
• Don't be violent

• Morality based on the goof an action produces for the moral agent
• If a person is surrounded by violence they become desensitised to it and accept it

• Refuse to fight (Friends Ambulance)
• Peaceful means can be used to prevent a conflict

It is a set of absolute values and is committed to non-violence with a strong value of human life

Condones immoral actions but doesn't fight against them

• St Ambrose of Milan said that war could be justified if it defended your neighbours. 
• He said war is a 'moral imperative' and Christians should fight for the oppressed
• He suggests Pacificism

justice of restorting to war

Justice of conduct during war

Justice after war

• If it was decreed by a lawful authority 
• If there was a just cause 

Augustine believed war should bring peace, even if that means the loss of innocent lives

• Can be hard to distinguish between civilians and soldiers (Vietnam war)
• War and justice have no place together (there is never a just reason for war)
• People aim to justify war instead of peaceful means

• Tries to protect innocent people
• Encourages combatants to think of moral implications of their actions
• Gives rules of conduct
• Maintains the idea of dignity
• Aims to prevent excess of warfare
• Culture is respected

• Consider the motives and means of conflict
• The Just war theory is natural law in action in warfare because it looks at virtue and proportionality 
• A peaceful society can only exist if there is peace and war may provide peace

• Against war based on property rights of rulers
• Against standing armies 
• In war people are used as the means to an end and this is wrong as everyone has autonomy 
• Rational citizens would choose to live in peace, not in war
• Soldiers fight because they feel it is their duty to do so

• War is acceptable if it brings the greatest good for the greatest number however war is more likely to disadvantage greatest number
• Difficult to apply the hedonic calculus to war, as there are too many uncertainties

• based on the SoL argument, euthanasia is bad because:
• 1. it doesn't value humans for what they are worth
• 2. human life is a basic good, and that life is being taken away
• 3. it is the destruction of a sacred human life

• Kant said rational human beings should be treated as an end in themselves, not as a means to something else
• Existence gives us value, not the quality of our lives. Making euthanasia wrong
• Euthanasia doesn't respect our inherent worth

Roman Catholics: unnatural, deemed wrong by the Pope, playing God

Liberal Christian: God has given us brain to figure out how to cure diseases, genetic engineering welcomed

Other: God doesn't want humans to suffer and genetic engineering stops suffering, saviour siblings are an extension of parental love

• Embryos are unique and sacred and should not be used for research
• Imperfections are built into nature

• Actions should be good for humanity, if the research is successful then genetic engineering may be considered acceptable 
• However, it could also be said that stopping genetic engineering would benefit society as we do not know the consequences of it

• Doesn't adhere to the primary precept of preservation of life
• Abortion is always a wrong act