Ethics - Morality Essay Example for Free

Ethics Morality Essay 1. Definition of Ethics It studies how man ought to behave. Ethics is a thoughtful review of how to act in the best interest of patients and their family. It is also about making good choices based on beliefs and values regarding life, health, suffering and death. Relationship of Ethics in other branches of science: * Ethics and Logic- Studies the correct and organized thinking of a man. Focused foremost on demands of materials, nonhuman world, or world of â€Å"things† in one’s environment it is people-oriented * Ethics and Psychology- Both deals with the study of man and his behavior. Studies how man ought to behave. Concerned with man’s moral obligation or the result of his behavior. It studies the human behavior from the perspective of morality. * Ethics and Sociology- Sociology deals with the study of social order and human relations in a society. Sociology is related to Ethics because Ethics deals with the study of moral orders in a society. Importance of Ethics: Ethics form the base ground of values, which differ from one culture to another. Ethics was applied in health care system, since ancient Egyptian times. A physician has moral obligations towards his patient based on physician patients relationship. The ethical principle of confidentiality confirms that patient can trust his health care provider not to disclose any information that the patient may have given in order to get cured. A current ethical issue in research involving human participants informed consent has prime importance. The subject and his guardian must have the capacity to understand the issue in question and the possible risks of treatment in the trial study. We need to do more to ensure that medical research practices are sound and ethical, and the goals of research should be secondary to the well being of the participants. The study of ethics and the study and practice of healthcare have not merged much in the past, but nevertheless ethical standards are essential to the practice of the health professions. Each professional discipline has its own code of conduct, guidelines for practice and philosophy of care to direct practice within its professional remit. There have been several international declarations of human rights within healthcare to protect patients from unethical practices that might nevertheless be portrayed to them as necessary evils in the course of scientific research and utilitarian principles – that is, the greater good. Despite the relative lack of moral philosophy and healthcare ethics in the curricula of healthcare professionals, it does not take long for anyone in clinical practice to face their first ethical dilemma about which they are called upon to make a judgment or have a view. In any healthcare system, whether organized and managed by the state or government or by the independent sector (private or non-governmental/voluntary) – or any mixture of these – moral issues will frequently be raised and should challenge the practitioner, teacher, manager or researcher. Establishing moral codes of practice between the various organizations mentioned above is important at the outset of any professional relationship or client encounter. For the practitioner the appropriate use of professional power, compared with the relative vulnerability of the lay client/patient during the first meeting, establishes the relationship for all future transactions between the two parties. In the context of progressive illness there are many occasions that will challenge this relationship as the illness trajectory takes its course. 2. Basic concepts in Ethics. Definition of Human Acts Human Acts (Actus Humani) refer to â€Å"actions that proceed from insight into the nature and purpose of one’s doing and from consent of free will†. Specifically, human acts are those actions done by a person in certain situations, which are essentially the result of his conscious knowledge, freedom and voluntariness, or consent. Hence, man performs these actions knowingly, freely, and voluntarily. Aspects of Human Acts * The Act Itself or the Object Of The Act. The act itself refers to the action that is done or performed by an agent, or simply, what the person does. This is the â€Å"substance of a moral act†, and here regarded as the basic factor of morality. More concretely, the object of the act is â€Å"that act effect which an action primarily and directly causes (finis operis). It is always necessary that the result of the act, independent of any circumstances or of the intention of the agent. † * The Motive or the Intention. The motive is the purpose that for the sake of which something is done. It is the reason behind our acting. It answers the question â€Å"why the person does what he does? †. Man normally performs an act as a means to achieve an end or goal, different from an act itself. And since the motive or intention is practically present in all human acts, it then becomes an important and integral part of morality. * The Circumstances. It refers to the various conditions outside of the act. They are not part and parcel of the act itself. Circumstances are conditions that influence, to a lesser or greater degree, the moral quality of the human act. The moral goodness or badness of an act is determined not only by the object or act itself, plus the motive or intention of the moral agent, but also on the circumstances or situation surrounding the performance of the action. Classification of Human Acts * Elicited Acts. These are actions performed by the will. (Wish, Intention, Consent, Election, Use) * Commanded acts. These are those acts done by man’s mental or bodily powers under the command of the will. (External and Internal Actions) Constituents of Human Acts * Knowledge. A human act as a deliberate act is a KNOWING ACT. No human act is possible without knowledge. * Freedom. The CAPACITY or POWER to choose between two or more courses of actions WITHOUT being forced to take one or the other by anything except our own will. * Voluntariness. A human act is a WILL- ACT. A voluntary act is different from what is merely WILLED and cannot be controlled by the will, as good or bad. Modifiers of Human Acts * Ignorance. It is the absence of necessary knowledge, which a person in a given situation, who is performing a certain act, ought to have. Ignorance therefore is a negation of knowledge. It can be classified as Vincible or Invincible Ignorance. * Passion or Concupiscence. It is here understood as a strong or powerful feeling or emotion. It refers more specifically to those bodily appetites or tendencies as experienced and expressed in such feelings as fear, love, hatred, despair, horror, sadness, anger, grief and the like. Passions are either classified as Antecedent or Consequent. * Fear. It is defined as the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself or loved ones. Fear may be considered a passion, which arises as an impulsive movement of avoidance of a threatening evil, ordinarily accompanied by bodily services. * Violence. It is generally referred to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the purpose of compelling the said person to act against his will. * Habit. It is a constant and easy way of doing things acquired by the repetition of the same act. Habit is a lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in certain manner. Definition of Morality Ethics and morality are two words, which are oftentimes used interchangeably, not just in ordinary discourse and in popular media but also in academic discussions. Etymologically, the word â€Å"ethics† is derived from the Greek word â€Å"ethos†, which can be roughly translated in English as custom or a particular way and manner of acting and behaving. The Latin equivalent for custom is â€Å"mos† or â€Å"mores†. It is from this root word that the term â€Å"moral† or â€Å"morality† is derived. The two terms, ethics and morality, in this sense, therefore, have literally the same meaning. That is why ethics is usually taken synonymous with morality. Also because of this, ethics is also called morality, or more precisely, the other name of ethics is morality. Norms of Morality The general way in which a given society or group operates is largely determined by societal norms of morality. These norms are composed of the rules by which people are supposed to operate within that society, and these rules can be explicit or implicit. According to the definition of societal norms of morality, they are subject to change from society to society and age to age. If a particular social norm becomes unpopular, it ceases to be a social norm. There are, of course, some societal norms that are viewed with differing perspectives even within a society. Because of this, any given society can be broken down into further subgroups that share a more common set of societal norms. This process can, in theory, continue all the way to the individual level, at which point it ceases due to the obvious need for more than one person to constitute a group. Understanding and adhering to social norms begins at birth, and most of these social norms are so ingrained within an individual that it is difficult to see that they exist. Formal social norms are quite easy to spot, of course, because they are recorded in some way and require a specific punishment if they are not followed. Informal social norms make up the vast majority of social norms, however, and are much easier to miss. They take the form of folkways, which are rather informal norms that are ordinarily followed, but do not carry great consequences when broken, and mores, which are also informal, but carry great consequences when broken. The development of social norms is inevitable, and the pressure to conform to them is great. There are occasions upon which the larger group conforms to the norms of the individual or a small group, but it is far more likely that the individual or small group will conform to the norms of those in the majority. It is important to be aware of social norms so that the actions an individual can determine which social norms are worthy of challenging and which serve a useful purpose. Many of these social norms will not ever be noticed because they are a core part of each person, but it is still useful to reflect upon those which can be noticed. Determinants of Morality The factors in human conduct that determine whether it is good or bad. There are three such determinants of morality, namely the object, the end, and the circumstances. By object is meant what the free will chooses to doin thought, word, or deed-or chooses not to do. Be end is meant the purpose for which the act is willed, which may be the act itself (as one of loving God) or some other purpose for which a person acts (as reading to learn). In either case, the end is the motive or the reason why an action is performed. By circumstances are meant all the elements that surround a human action and affect its morality without belonging to its essence. A convenient listing of these circumstances is to ask: who? Where? How? How much? By what means? How often? Some circumstances so affect the morality of an action as to change its species, as stealing a consecrated object becomes sacrilege and lying under oath is perjury. Other circumstances change the degree of goodness or badness of an act. In bad acts they are called aggravating circumstances, as the amount of money a person steals. To be morally good, a human act must agree with the norm of morality on all three counts: in its nature, its motive, and its circumstances. Departure from any of these makes the action morally wrong. Definition of Rights. Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. Rights are of essential importance in such disciplines as law and ethics, especially theories of justice and deontology. Rights are often considered fundamental to civilization, being regarded as established pillars of society and culture and the history of social conflicts can be found in the history of each right and its development. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, rights structure the form of governments, the content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived. The connection between rights and struggle cannot be overstated — rights are not as much granted or endowed as they are fought for and claimed, and the essence of struggles past and ancient are encoded in the spirit of current concepts of rights and their modern formulations. Definition of Duties. A duty to use care toward others that would be exercised by an ordinarily reasonable and prudent person in order to protect them from unnecessary risk of harm in a typical medical malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff has the burden of proof to show that the physician had a legal duty of care to the patient, that the physician breached that duty, and that the breach caused injury to the plaintiff. Divisions of Duties An appropriate division of duties is the first basic principle of internal control. Remember, the basic point is that no single person should handle a transaction from beginning to end. The primary reason is to prevent an individual from having enough control over a transaction to where errors and/or irregularities can occur and go undetected for extended periods of time. An appropriate division of duties should also produce warning signals when errors and /or irregularities do occur. It is important to keep in mind that a good division of duties does not guarantee that things will operate, as they should. This is because two or more people can be involved in wrongdoing (i. e. collusion). Unannounced rotation of job duties and surprise audits can help reduce the chances of collusion. 3. Disablement Terminologies Disability * Inability to function normally, physically or mentally; incapacity. * Inability to pursue an occupation because of physical or mental impairment * The term disability summarizes a great number of different functional limitations occurring in any population in any country, of the world. People may be disabled by physical, intellectual or sensory impairment, medical conditions or mental illness. Such impairments, conditions or illnesses may be permanent or transitory in nature. Functional Limitation * Any health problem that prevents a person from completing a range of tasks, whether simple or complex. Handicap * A disadvantage for the given individual resulting from impairment or a disability that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a task that is normal in that individual. * A disadvantage that makes achievement unusually difficult. * The term handicap means the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the life of the community on an equal level with others. It describes the encounter between the person with a disability and the environment. The purpose of this term is to emphasize the focus on the shortcomings in the environment and in many organized activities in society, for example, information, communication and education, which prevent persons with disabilities from participating on equal terms. Impairment (Indirect and Composite) * To cause to diminish, as in strength, value, or quality: an injury that impaired my hearing a severe storm impairing communications. * Any abnormality of, partial or complete loss of, or loss of the function of, a body part, organ, or system. * An injury, illness, or congenital condition that causes or is likely to cause a loss or difference of physiological or psychological function.

Galactosemia Essay -- Genetics Disorders Essays

Galactosemia missing works cited Galactosemia is a potentially fatal genetic defect that prevents the body from metabolizing milk. It is fatal because an infant's early diet consists mostly of milk. The disease does not usually hinder the development of children in North America or Europe; it is a not-uncommon cause of death, however, in third-world nations, where lactose-free milk is not readily available. So, what impacts people afflicted with galactosemia more, the fact that they have the disease, or the question of whether or not it can be treated? A child who is not lactose intolerant would not die from shock, whether or not treatment was available, and so nature determined the fate of the child. A child with galactosemia would only survive where treatment was available, so the environment determined the child's fate. The notion of nature versus nurture is one of the most debated topics of modern sociology, and is very apparent in the theories presented by Laura Mulvey and Mimi White. They contend that mass media perpetuates sexism because media is ubiquitous, and the environment impacts human development. There is another side to this: that our environment does not completely define us. Just like a lactose-intolerant baby that would die in the absence of an environment that treated the natural disease, the media helps shape who we are, but does not completely define us. Mulvey says matter-of-factly "the fascination of film is reinforced by pre-existing patterns of fascination already at work within the individual subject and the social formations that have moulded him" (Mulvey 519). She goes on to say that those pre-existing patterns boil down to the "phallocentric order" that is present in society. The fasci... ... responded to the situation because it was brought to them by mass media. People did not watch the Simpson trial because Simpson murdered two people, people watched the trial because it was simulcast to every home, twenty-four by seven, for almost a year. Just like there is middle ground in the nature versus nurture argument, there is middle ground between Mulvey and White's positions and Gramsci, Foucault and Butler. We should keep in mind that the goal of television stations, production studios, newspapers and books is to make money, and not to uphold the legacy of Edward R. Murrow. Unfortunately, in a capitalist society, there is no pure media, only infotainment. This obstacle is going to occupy the minds of communication-theorists for as long as there are commercials on network television, ads in newspapers, and for as long as authors need to earn a living.

Dysfunctional Behaviour Essay

A dysfunctional behaviour can be defined as â€Å"an inappropriate action or response, other than an activity of daily living, in a given social milieu that is a problem for the caregiver.† Dysfunctional behaviours commonly accompany cognitive impairment and are a significant source of burden to caregivers. Dysfunctional behaviours may be the first sign of a dementing illness, even before caregivers perceive changes in the patient’s cognitive abilities. Dysfunctional Behaviour has been called many things- abnormal, atypical and currently dysfunctional- which seem to reflect society’s view of the individual. If someone is not able to function as a normal human being, the label ‘dysfunctional’ carries less stigma than the label ‘abnormal’. It states that a person is clearly not functioning correctly and is therefore not leading what would be considered a ‘normal’ life. He or she may lack the full range of emotions or feelings and may participate in only a limited range of behaviours that does not allow for a fully functioning lifestyle. Approaches of Dysfunctional Behaviour * Behavioural The behaviourist perspective is that we are born blank slates and all behaviour is learnt. Therefore any dysfunctional behaviour is learnt, by operant conditioning, classical conditioning, or social learning. This places the responsibility on us to ensure that we do not ‘teach’ dysfunctional behaviours to others. * Biological The biological approach, which is part of biopsychology, would favour the nature side of the nature-nurture debate. Biological explanations of behaviour assert that something in our biology is the fundamental cause of dysfunctional behaviour. There could be genetic cause, or a malformation of brain structures. * Cognitive The third approach to explain dysfunctional behaviour is that of cognitive psychology, which sees our behaviour as being a consequence of some internal processing of information. Much like a computer, we take in information, process it and respond in some way. If however there is a problem with the circuit boards in a computer, the response may not be what we would expect, and this is the same with humans. If something goes wrong with what information we attend to, and how we perceive and store it, then the response may not be what everyone expects and this could lead to a label of dysfunctional behaviour.

Movie Analysis Gran Torino - 1649 Words

Hannah Swartout December 3, 2017 COM 325 Analysis Paper Gran Torino Analysis After losing his wife, Walt Kowalski was left with spoiled children and grandchildren, cigarettes, Pabst Blue Ribbon and his 1972 Gran Torino. Walt was retired from the military after serving in the Korean war. In the beginning of the movie Walt appears to be disgruntled, racist and tough-minded. He was not ecstatic that a Hmong family was moving into his deceased neighbors house. Meanwhile, the Hmong family next door faces some challenges of their own. Brother and sister, Thao and Sue are settling into their new lives in America, when their cousin, gang member â€Å"Spider†, starts harassing Thao. Spider pushes Thao to initiate into his gang by stealing Walt†¦show more content†¦After Walt saved Sue from the black men who were giving her a hard time, he said to her â€Å"You trying to get yourself killed? I thought you asian girls were supposed to be smart.† ...â€Å"You should be hanging out with your own people- other Hmongs†. Th is was a prime example of Endogamy and Exogamy. In chapter 11 the book discussed contact between cultures. This was a huge theme throughout the movie, quite possibly the biggest. A term that I chose is hegemony which is dominance expressed by one societal group over another. This could also be explained through the same scene as I described earlier, when Sue got herself into the bad situation and the black men were messing with her. In that particular part of town, the movie hinted that it was a predominately black community, the one man even said â€Å"What the f*ck you doin in my neighborhood boy?† leading the viewer to believe that he is not supposed to be there. Out numbered and helpless, the three black young men exercised their dominance, or hegemony, over Sue and Trey. Another key term I related from chapter 11 was adaptation potential, which is ones ability to adapt and cope with the stressors of a new environment and the likelihood that said individual will thrive. A ge and education level are good indicators of how one will be able to adapt when put into a new environment. When Walt gave Sue a ride she saidShow MoreRelatedGran Torino : Cultural Conflict And Redemption1840 Words   |  8 PagesCheryl Evans Carol Hayes Interpersonal Communication 11 June 2017 Gran Torino Analysis- A Reflection on Cultural Conflict and Redemption The 2008 movie â€Å"Gran Torino† starring Clint Eastwood is filled with an abundance of cultural diversity, which is met with much resistance, stereotype, and prejudice by the movies’ main character, Walt Kowalski. Walt’s world is changing; his Detroit neighborhood is decaying, his relationship with his sons is distant, and his Korean War memories continueRead MoreGrand Torino Essay1089 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Grand Torino Analysis Cultural Diversity Through Interpersonal Communication Margaret Heinsohn Florida International University Abstract The aim of this paper is to study the interpersonal communication taking place in a cultured shocked neighborhood. The findings of these studies are applied to the film Grand Torino. In addition, this study will discuss the communication styles applied by the characters of the movie. I believe they are essential to understandingRead MoreGran Torino : Cultural Conflict And Redemption1786 Words   |  8 PagesGran Torino Analysis- A Reflection on Cultural Conflict and Redemption The 2008 movie â€Å"Gran Torino† starring Clint Eastwood is filled with an abundance of cultural diversity, which is met with much resistance, stereotype, and prejudice by the movies’ main character, Walt Kowalski. Walt’s world is changing; his wife dies, his Detroit neighborhood is decaying, his relationship with his sons is distant, and his Korean War memories continue to destroy his ability to fully enjoy life. ThroughRead MoreSymbolic Interactionism, Functional Analysis, and Conflict Theory in the Film, Gran Torino1773 Words   |  7 PagesCLINT EASTWOODS GRAND TORINO 8 Symbolic Interactionism, Functional Analysis and Conflict Theory In Gran Torino Symbolic Interactionism With respect to symbolic interactionism, people build meaning to life through social interaction. People operate the way they do because of their own characterization of situations. Symbolic interactionists appreciate social life through social interactions. From symbolic interactionists point of view, the society is a product of social interactions where peopleRead MoreFilm Analysis-Gran Torino1770 Words   |  8 PagesFilm Analysis – Grand Torino To give a bit of an overview, the movie â€Å"Gran Torino† was directed and produced by Clint Eastwood who also starred in the movie. This movie highlights the modern conditions surrounding many aspects of intercultural communications. Clint Eastwood plays Walt Kowolski whose wife just died and who is a Korean War veteran. He has a difficult time getting along with people do not hold the same views or values that he does. He lives in an era that he doesn’t understand andRead MoreGran Torino1704 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ There are age related conflicts, cultural conflicts, religious conflicts and value based conflicts.   This movie is a film highlighting many cultural conflicts.   These conflicts continuously erupt in a working class Michigan neighborhood.   We will first examine a scene with religious cultural conflict. In the same scene we will see age based cultural conflict as well.   Next, we will examine a racial cultural conflict between the Hmong people and an American. After examining cultural conflicts,Read MoreWho Are You Calling Old? Negotiating Old Age Identity in the Elderly Consumption Ensemble Michelle Barnhart Àà º Lisa Penaloza18943 Words   |  76 PagesIn 2003, fewer than 3% of ï ¬ ctional characters depicted on television were over age 65 (Vesperi 2004). It will be interesting to see whether the strong, charismatic characters played by Betty White in Hot in Cleveland and Clint Eastwood in the movie Gran Torino become more common as more baby boomers become senior citizens. Gergen and Gergen (2000) have argued that the â€Å"dark ages† of aging are coming to an end and that America is now entering a new era of â€Å"positive aging,† in which older people areRead MoreEdexcel Igcse Economics Answer49663 Words   |  199 Pages Mars began advertising online with the launch of an ad campaign for the Gummi Burst addition to its Starburst sweets line. Question 1: (a) (i) The top six movie distributors controlled 71.8 per cent of the total market. (ii) An oligopoly is said to exist if a market is dominated by just a few producers. In this case, the movie distribution industry is dominated by six firms. Warner Bros, Sony/Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Fox Searchlight and Buena Vista together have a 71.8 market