HPS 0613 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Casuistry, Deductive Reasoning, Normative Ethics
24 Jan 2020
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Metaphysics (reality) + normative ethics (moral theories) + epistemology (knowledge) Codes of ethics (often black and white), legal codes, oaths, maxims. An inference or argument: one conclusion + one or more premises. Withholding a patient"s health information from them is always unethical (premise) The doctor withheld health information from a patient (premise) Therefore, what the doctor did was unethical (conclusion) Analyzes deductive arguments for their validity and soundness. Analyzes non-deductive arguments for their goodness/ strength and informal fallacies. The doctor withheld health information from a patient. Therefore, what the doctor did was unethical. Deductively valid and all premises are true/ accepted (y) Withholding a patient"s health information from them is always unethical. (y) The doctor withheld health information from a patient (y) Therefore, what the doctor did was unethical (y) Therefore, the doctor withheld health information from a patient. If the premises are true/ accepted, the conclusion must be true/ accepted. What the doctor did was not unethical.
